Rapture is just the Beginning
by Psudocode Samurai
Summary: During the Mizuki incident Naruto is pulled into his mindscape to meet the Kyuubi, and is taught some of the ancient history of their world, as well as the source of all Nin and Gen jutsu. Small harem fic with Naruto, FemKyuubi, and more.
1. Chapter 1: A tale from the past

Disclaimer: I don't own Nartuo or Bioshock(2), yes, you heard me, Bioshock(2).

A/N: Alrighty, a bit of info here, for those of you that have beaten Bio2, you know how they left it open for just about _anything_ and let me tell you, the way they did it (I got the super good ending) I had an utter geek-gasim, and had this story come to mind. This is going to be a strong Naruto fic, a fic with Naruto gaining Plasmids. Not all, but quite a few, but you will likely not be seeing things like wind jutsu, summoning or maybe even the Rasengan, so those that don't want an overpowered Naruto, chill. I tend to dislike those stories myself, I don't want him to two shot Orochimaru or the like, but I still think it's damn lame that the tale's namesake is one of the seemingly weakest people in the story. So here it is!

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Rapture is just the Beginning

Chapter 1: A tale from the Past.

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This day had started out well enough for all involved. Children had their school, and more importantly, their final exams, the teachers especially were celebrating as it would be Sauske Uchiha's last day, and that meant one thing, and one thing only.

No more fan girls.

For Iruka Umino, the day had rapidly taken a dive, as his favorite student, one Naruto Uzumaki, had had trouble right out of the gate. He knew the young man had been studying hard, he'd seen him at night, sitting up in bed, pouring over books while balancing things on his head and running through hand signs so fast that even the veteran (at least for a ninja) teacher had been left wide eyed, but then why was it that the boy had been doing so poorly in class all these years.

You see, Naruto had been held back two years already, having failed out both times for reasons that Iruka, upon seeing the kid's training regime, couldn't understand. He had ground himself into the dirt doing physical training in the form of his pranks, outrunning even the most seasoned of the ninja forced with relative ease. Only the vaulted Dolphin, former head of the ANBU Tracking Corps., had been able to catch him with any measure of regularity. Iruka was no fool, he suspected some part of the teen's burden had been helping him in that regard, weather or not that was due to something he knew about or it was utterly unconscious none could tell. When he would ask the Hokage about it the elderly leader would simply smile and chuckle at the boy's latest escapade, then ask to see the blond bundle of energy privately for a time.

If anything, the next prank would be that much more grand, as though his commander had been asking the boy to try and test his forces, and he had to admit, after seeing a few of the animal masked black ops warriors huffing and puffing he couldn't blame him. Still, the results of this morning's tests had made so little sense it made him want to question his own skills as a teacher. It was almost as though Naruto had been looking at entirely different questions on the written.

The second Hokage's bloodline ability was wood? Iruka _knew_ that Naruto knew better than that, there wasn't a student in the whole of the academy that knew more about the Kage's, be them foreign or domestic, than Naruto.

Now, Irkua was sitting in one of the many bars in Konoha, nursing a bit of rice wine, his own heart breaking at what he had had to do to someone he considered to be a little brother. None of this was adding up, and right now he was screwing up the courage to try and talk to the Hokage about these scores.

That's where his evening took a dive.

Just as he was about to let the cool liquor slide past his lips he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle, the tall tale sign of someone about to arrive via Shunshin.

Not sparing the ANBU a look waited for the eventual order to come, "Iruka Umino."

"Hrn."

"The Hokage requests your presence at the tower, to join the search."

This caught his attention, "And what, pray tell, would the Hokage need with a washed up ANBU?"

"Naruto Uzumaki has stolen the Forbidden Scroll."

Iruka didn't feel the glass slip from his fingers, but the resulting crash was more than enough to spur him into action, before the cat masked ANBU could so much as blink the academy teacher had vanished, no smoke, no wind, he was simply gone.

Iruka Umino, a young, and currently rather bloody, chunin of Konoha was looking at his onetime best friend in barely contained horror. "No Mizuki! You mustn't!"

With a grin that would have even Orochimaru quaking, the academy professor-turned-traitor took a deep breath, he was going to enjoy this…

"You ARE the NINE TAILED FOX!"

Iruka watched in horror as Naruto looked from his one teacher to another, still clutching the scroll to his chest as he did his best to process what it was he was hearing. He was the fox? That's absurd…but still…all the stares…the harsh mutterings…the beatings…

Could it be true?

The blond boy turned to his sensei with a questioning look to see tears in his mentor's eyes. "Iruka-sensei?"

"No Naruto! It's not true, don't believe him!"

A sadistic laugh echoed through the empty forest as the silver haired chunin drew a shockingly large shruiken before, with a flick of his wrist, the sharpened steel began to spin with the fury of a mill's saw blade. "He's LYING to you! They all are! They hate you, and have been doing everything they can to end you from the beginning! Ever wonder why you can never buy food? Ever wonder why you are tied and beaten!? Ever wonder why you fail every test!?"

Iruka felt his heart tighten with every word, even as Naruto's eyes narrowed, a glare dancing between the two before he looked to the Hokage monument, specifically at the stone edifice of the Third, there his eyes softened before looking back at Mizuki. "You LYING! There's no way the old man would lie to me!"

If anything the man's laughter became even more pronounce, "You fool! Who do you think ORDERED IT!"

Naruto flinched as though he had been struck, memories of him asking the Hokage time and again why he was hated, who his parents were, did he have any other family, all met with a sad smile, a far off look, and a shake of his head. "But…there's no way! The Fourth killed it!"

"Yes! He did kill it! The very night you were born! Or maybe I should say, reborn!"

The laughter only continued as Iruka tried to get his feet, pulling a kunai from his leg as he tried to pull himself to Naruto, "Naruto, don't listen to him! He's trying to trick you again, he's trying to steal the scroll!"

Ignoring the struggling teacher he took careful aim at the teen who was supporting himself on the large scroll s his legs had turned to rubber with the world shattering revelation, however, the weakness was starting to fade as anger filled him. Was Mizuki telling the truth? If so then everything made sense…

As his anger spiked, his mind running through every encounter with every villager, his failed attempts to make friends…Ino…Sakura…Sauske…the bad food, the loneliness, his chakra flared. The two teachers looked on in surprise as his power became something visible something that normally only Jonin were typically capable of. The clearing lit in pale blue, as it kept flaring, then as his eyes turned back to Iruka it…changed.

Blue became a deep purple as the thought of someone he cared for so much had betrayed him, however, he saw how Mizuki had attacked him, and that laugh…he was no friend either.

Purple began to lighten once more to a deep red as he turned now slit eyes on Mizuki, he felt the power coursing through him, he wanted to be strong, never to lose against this teme in a battle again. Naruto was no fool, he knew that every time he came time to spar that Mizuki would go that much harder on him, almost letting Sauske win while he was utterly destroyed in the fight.

Never again!

'_That's it, Naruto-kun…That's what you need…Never give up, FIGHT! WIN!! Prove yourself!'_

Wide red eyes glanced around small clearing for a moment, wildly searching for the owner of the voice, it was a strange, oddly alluring thing, but it was faint, as though it was coming from deep in a well, "W-Who are you!?"

'_A friend Naruto-kun…the silver one only speaks shades of truth…Trust your heart.'_

In all the years he had dealt with people, all he had met, only one had sounded like this before.

The Third Hokage, his ojiji. Naruto looked again to Iruka to see the anguish in his eyes, the pure desire for him not to believe Mizuki, and smiled.

Said ex-sensei's eyes narrowed before rearing back and letting the shuriken fly, "Die demon! Die and let us be rid of you FOREVER!"

The world seemed to slow for Naruto as he turned, the too familiar sound of steel cutting through the air, as a reflex he started to draw up his arms to cross before his body, his eyes screwing shut in anticipation of pain, pain that never came.

Confused eyes stared into the dark of night up into the tear streaked face of Iruka, "I…Iru-Iruka-sensei?"

"I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry…I-I wasn't there for you. I saw, I saw the way you were hurting, but…I just couldn't…Don't believe him. Naruto, you need to take the scroll' Iruka's face seemed to swell for a moment before he coughed up a gout of blood, spattering Naruto with the warm fluid even as tears dripped onto the gaping boy's face, "Take the scroll and go, I'll hold him off."

"B-"

"No buts…let your sensei show you how it's done…"

Naruto felt a tear of his own slip down his cheek as Iruka reached back and pulled the large blade from his back and with a motion that one so injured shouldn't be capable of spun hard and returned it to Mizuki who gave a lazy sidestep. "Come now Iruka, you know as well as I that you are no match for me. I've beaten you in every test, every trial. I've been a chunin two years longer than you, there's no way that you will be able to stop me."

Iruka gave a mirthless laugh as he pulled another set of blades from his from his body, the spurt of blood giving Mizuki another smile. "Mizuki, there is one, small, thing that you're forgetting…"

"Oh? And that is?"

"Being a ninja, is all about deception."

Mizuki's eyes widened as Iruka vanished from view before cursing and taking off himself. There were currently two possibilities, one, Iruka was going for help, or two, he was going to set up an attack.

Either way, he had a kid to find.

Naruto was currently crouched behind a large stump, his hands sealed firmly over his mouth in an attempt to keep his breath all the more quiet. The young man wracking his brain to try and figure out what to do should his former teacher find him again.

'_Oh…well that's simple enough…'_

"Wha….Who are you? _Where_ are you?"

He could almost feel the voice's smile, _'Come, Naruto-kun, come find me…'_

Before he could ask what the voice meant Naruto felt the dark of night seem to intensify on him, close in, then a feeling as though he were falling. When he next opened his eyes he found himself staring up at a dark, stone lined ceiling, several inches of his prone body covered in feted water. Slowly the young teen pulled himself up to his feet, wincing at the scent that now coated him.

"H-Hello?"

Silence.

He cast nervous eyes along what looked to be the only corridor, the weathered stones vanishing into the dark. Seeing nothing else he began to pick his way along the path, the slick sludge and chill stone doing nothing to ease his fears.

"Please? Is…Is anyone there?"

Naruto couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard a whisper far up ahead. Latching onto that he picked up the pace, stumbling every few paces as the corridor began to brighten. Rounding a corner the blond skid to a halt, almost falling as his feet caught at the uneven cobblestones.

There, before the confused teen, was a massive set of bars, the rods of iron vanishing up past his sight as he tried to see the true dimensions of this odd room. Truly, the only thing he could easily understand, as a small slip of paper that said 'seal' over what looked to be a lock.

Sliding closer he reached an unsteady hand up to run gently down the weathered parchment

"_Ah, ah, aaahhhh…I wouldn't do that if I were you…"_

Naruto leapt back in shock; by the time he had landed he had already brought up a pair of kunai and was in crouch not unlike in Inuzuka boy in his class. There, leaning almost lazily against the bars, her forehead pressed between the narrow bars as she watched him, was a woman unlike any he had ever seen.

She was tall compared to many women he had seen about the village, approaching six feet even in her slightly stooped posture. Her skin looked to be tanned, despite the fact that her apparent cell was so poorly lit, but that was not what really caught his attention.

It was her eyes.

Eyes that held a beauty in their sadness.

Eyes he had seen staring back at him every morning in the mirror, despite their different colors. His eyes being the color of windswept seas, the kind that had claimed so many sailors off the coasts of Wave. Hers the shade of deepest emeralds, making the eyes of his crush Sakura seem so…plain by comparison. Long, fire red hair spilled about her face, obscuring it, but still there were her eyes, watching though the crimson curtain as he cautiously began to inch his way back to her.

"Who…who are you?"

A tired sounding laugh echoed through the space, even in its state it seemed to carry something of a dangerous edge to it, not unlike the purple haired woman he saw heading into the fenced in forest every night, walking past one of his hide holes time and again, muttering to herself about things that he knew all too well.

"_I thought that would be simple enough…Naruto-kun, while I know you have never known me, there can be no one else that knows you better."_

Despite what all he had been through that night he somehow understood that she was not to be counted among the vast majority of the village that would go so far out of their way to harm him, be it physically or mentally. However, as one of his favorite saying went.

Burned once, flinch twice.

Almost in response to his unspoken thought the woman let out another laugh, for the first time raising her head a bit to let him get a better look even as a sad smile graced full lips. _"I always liked that line, so…fitting. Naruto-kun, don't you have even a _slight_ idea as to who I am?"_

As he watched the woman slide slowly to the floor, a place he just realized he himself was as some part of his mind was starting to understand. He _had_ seen this woman before, he just couldn't understand as to where.

"_You're getting close dear one…oh so close…"_

His eyes widened shock as the somewhat familiar endearment finally triggered his memory. "Dear one…but that's…"

"_Yes Naruto-kun….it's me."_

"S-Shiori?"

A delicate hand snaked through the bars to lie gently on his cheek, her thumb brushing away tears he didn't realize that he had been shedding, tears he had not let fall since the day he was kicked out of the orphanage nine long years ago. After a moment it was her turn to have her eyes widen as his shaking hand came up to do the same. After a startled moment she leaned into the gentle touch, the likes of which she hadn't felt in more than a hundred years.

"_Yes Naruto-kun, it's me…"_

The teen scooted closer to the bars, doing his best to reach through and pull the woman into a hug, the cold of the steel bars offset by the almost ethereal warmth that permeated the boy's being. The pair simply sat there for a time, basking in the simple presence of one another.

"Shiori-chan…what's going on, who _are_ you?"

She pulled back slightly and looked into confused eyes in sadness, _"The silver haired one told you dear one…"_

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he fought the initial knee-jerk instinct to pull back, it was slight, but he caught the hurt look that flashed across her angelic…or should it be demonic…features before he leaned back in, already missing the warmth. "Y-You're the fox?"

She let out a held breath and fought the urge to purr at the closeness, a feeling she hadn't had in so long…_"I have had many names Naruto-kun…my first, before my change, was Shiori…Then came Inari…Others called me Izanami, Lasya, Komorkis…the list continues, now I am simply 'The Ninetails' the Kyuubi no Kitsune…"_

While she couldn't see it Naruto's jaw hung in silent awe…the 'fox' sealed into him was a Goddess? "But…if you are Izanami-sama…then why…"

Her voice was one of barley controlled rage, now she really did seem like that purple haired woman, _"I was tricked…Naruto-kun, please understand, I never wanted to do what I did…all I remember was sitting among a glade, my glade, then there was this…pull, then I was here, in my trickster form, only far larger, then the attacks came upon me and all I had time to do was try and survive. Understand, even a Goddess, as your kind calls me, can be killed with the right attacks. I-I was afraid, then your father came on the Toad King an-"_

"My FATHER!?"

The woman reared back, hands coming up to flatten what Naruto had seen for the first time, a set of fox ears situated at the top of her head, their deep red color melding well with her hair, and in the darkness the black tips were all but invisible. The woman looked at with pained, shocked eyes as she stroked her ears and glared at him a silent question. The teen had the good grace to look a bit sheepish before he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "S-Sorry…but you surprised me…you knew my father…but you said he was on a giant frog-"

"_Toad."_

"Amphibian,' the pair chuckled a bit before he continued, "But…if he was riding that…then that means he's…"

"_The Fourth Hokage."_

Only Shiori's hands kept the young man from falling back onto the cold stones, the act would have made the woman laugh if it was anything less world shattering for the boy. "Then why…"

"_Do not hate your 'jiji' Naruto-kun, you must understand how hated the Fourth was in the world, if anyone knew…"_

Hard eyes stared into hers, making her want to jerk back in surprise, "No Shiori-chan, it would have just been a drop in the bucket compared to what I went through here…"

She let out a heavy sigh as the pair separated; absently they both rubbed their arms, already feeling that much colder. _"Naruto-kun…I'm not going to tell you that it was anything but a nightmare, but you do know he did all he could, don't you?"_

He ground his teeth in frustration but let out a nod. He wasn't the Elemental Nation's foremost expert on the Kage's for nothing, or at least that's what he considered himself. He knew the Third was getting to old for the job. Hell, he was too old for it ten years ago, but still he soldiered on, and to help with that he had set up a council of elder and advisors, something that had not been seen in the Nations save in times of war, when the Kage was expected to either be on the field or at the least the foremost protectorate for the villages. This council had been working wonderfully, in every respect helping to strength the village and safeguard its citizens. Working so well in fact that many of the other nations were considering starting their own councils to help expedite decisions and help with the economy.

It worked beautifully for everyone involved.

Everyone, except for Naruto, the 'demon child' and 'murderer of their beloved Fourth'. No, for him it had made life a living hell. They voted to withdraw his support stipend, leaving him with only what money he could scrounge from salvaging scrap from the various training fields and trash bins that he would sell to one of the few shops that would let him in. They had denied every petition that came from that family, Tenten's family, to adopt him, same with the duo from his favorite ramen stand. Every move was block and stamped into the dirt. Naruto even had to be careful how he approached the two businesses, less he cause them too many problems.

Shiori winced slightly as the boy remembered his friend, Tenten. The pair had been almost inspirable from the day they had met, her throwing weapons at the back of her family's forge, testing the balance for her father.

Well, that was her excuse.

When one of the blades glanced off another that was already imbedded into the straw target, the knife spinning out into the bushes where she heard a strangled cry. After searching for the source of the cry she let out a scream, one that quickly drew her mother and father outside to see her cradling the boy's head in her lap as she cried, the kunai lodged firmly in his stomach. When the family had rushed him to the hospital, only to be turned away they stormed the Hokage tower and upon seeing the wounded child called in his personal physician before rushing to the hospital.

Konoha's new medical force was the best that had been seen since the days of Tsunade.

However, their halcyon days were numbered, as eventually the pair were to enter the academy, and with Naruto being a year older it looked to be that they would never get to be together, all the hard work the pair had done to create their timing had been wasted. But then Naruto had failed, only the two knowing it was purposeful, in an attempt to skew the teams. Naruto had done all he could to make sure that the pair would be together in the grading curve, letting the two hopefully be together, coupled with another orphan, Rock Lee, the pair would have been unstoppable, but then he had failed again, despite the fact he _knew_ he had aced the test, _knew_ that he had gotten a perfect on the throwing weapons, and a well above average on the ninjutsus portion, only failing to create a bushin. Lee had utterly failed that portion and still passed, even if he had been in the bottom of the barrel, having only barely scraped by in weapons, taijutsu and the written test.

Yes, the council had done well, exactly what they had wanted. Now he had failed again and…

"_Naruto-kun…stop, please…we'll make it better, trust me."_

Naruto looked back up into pained eyes and gave a weak smile before his eyes widened and he shot to his feet, making Shiori rise as well, "Iruka-sensei! He's in trouble, I have to-"

The red-head raised her hands in a placating manner, _"Naruto-kun, understand, here, in this place, time has no meaning, and I have much I need to say."_

He cocked an eyebrow at her before settling to the floor again, absently wishing he had a chair, and, much to his shock, both he and Shiori were suddenly sitting in the large, overstuffed chairs that the Hokage had in his study. The fox-girl looked at him in surprise before grinned and snuggling deeper into the soft leather, her many tails, something Naruto was shocked to see as he had somehow missed them, came up to create a kind of blanked for the woman, covering long, lean, tanned legs that were easily seen thanks to the short-skirted black kimono she wore. Pushing the current surprise out of his mind for a moment as he watched her tuck her legs under her, "Yes, Shiori-chan?"

She let out a strained sigh before gathering her thoughts. _"Naruto-kun, do you know how ninjutsu and ginjutsu came to be?"_ the teen's head shook, _Understand Naruto-kun, what I'm about to tell you, no one in your world knows, even I do not possess all the knowledge to answer all your questions." _This made the boy gape slightly, earning a chuckle from the woman. _ "You know of the Demon Wars, yes?" _He nodded, and for a moment she was happy that he could be so attentive when he wanted to, _"My tale reaches further back than that…but know that the first 'ninja' in your world was known as the Sage of Six Paths, and is considered to be every ninja's first, true, ancestor. As without him you all would be unable to utilize ninjutsu or ginjutsu. However, at one time, he was not the only one, he was simply the last survivor. No, at a time they were the ones that went to battle against the 'demons' in order to save their world, and in the end, they destroyed it, drunk with their own power and changing due to what had been done to them, only the 'sage' was left sane, and did all he could to stop them."_

"How…how did they gain that power?"

She ran a hand absently through her hair, and for a moment, as her sleeve was pulled up, Naruto saw what looked like injection marks on her arm. _"Naruto-kun, he…we…were soldiers, the most powerful of us were deemed 'demons' and they thought we had gained too much power to fast…they turned on us, and only the Sage understood that it was they that were losing control. Naruto-kun, we were all given things, things that we were not told much about, only that it would give us the power to serve. Naruto, at first I wasn't even human, just one more test subject in the lab. One of the girls there named me Shiori…"_

The teen across from her was at a loss, he knew she wasn't human, the ears told him that, but to be a simple animal in a lab…what all had been done to her to get to this point? _"There were ten of us, all different animals, they were testing ways to 'grow' weapons for humans, you see they had found a number of girls in the sea, girls that had truly incredible powers, the one who named me seemed to possess the most power, and was in the deepest levels of hell for that place. It was all any of us could do to comfort her, in our limited ways…Wherever she had some from, they had developed a way for people to use different elements at their whim, channeling power through their bodies in ways you wouldn't believe. She told them that they had cultivated this substance, ADAM, in slugs, as they wouldn't be able to escape, and didn't have the intelligence to develop things further. They thought that they could increase the yield of this stuff if they put it in other animals…it worked, but they didn't know how it would react with some of us…when the cat they used it on sprouted another tail they started to worry."_

Humans…we were responsible for the bijju!?

Her eyes were rather vacant as she stared out into the blackness, her whole being lost to time for now. _"As the months passed some of the girls stopped coming, there was only the first…at the time I couldn't understand human tongue, so I had no idea what her name was…only that she always looked rather content…I think now I understand that she was not unlike us, that she had someone with her that was comforting her all the time…even if I couldn't see him…Anyway…eventually it came to human trials…that's where things started to go wrong…I'll spare you the details, but it lead to the end of it all. The ten of us, as well as a few of the 'good ones' had to band together to try and save what we could…but it wasn't without cost. As the years past, and humans destroyed themselves the world changed…these powers were never meant for mortals, and the ten of us being changed into the 'farms' had displaced us from time…we could only watch as you tore yourselves apart, then started to try and re-build…that's when the end for us came in the form of __Jūbi…he had gone mad, and the most powerful of the humans rose up to stop the 'demons', the Sage, had to seal him away, to protect us all, but we were still lumped into that same group, and many were sealed into different forms, I hear tell that the one tale was put into a tea-pot of all things…" _She gave a mirthless laugh at the thought before containing. _"At the time I had been in 'hiding' for a very long time, watching people as best I could…a Goddess for many…anyway, The sage, being the last of the humans with this power after his…purging…had two sons, and the long continued, diluting itself over the hundreds of years even as the mutations continued, now your people must use hand signs to create the same effects of the first ones, but even the Sage was never as strong as the girl…I miss her…and often wonder what had happened to her…."_

"Shiori-chan…if you don't mind…what was she like?"

A sad smile graced her lips as she looked at him, _"She was a lot like you, Naruto-kun…at first. She seemed to care about anyone, and I think she understood that there was no 'good or evil' only the pain we all feel, deep down, and did what she could to try and lessen it. Even with us, she tried to make us a bit more comfortable in the cages, bringing us bits of food and little toys…' _He smiled as a wide grin formed on her face, _'I had this little ball with a furry tail that would shake when you….Sorry…She was soft spoken, rarely yelling, and moved with a grace that I could appreciate. I even modeled this body after hers…at least as best I could…she smiled a lot…Like you…"_

Naruto felt a blush creep up on him as she compared him with someone so obviously important to her. She let out another sad sigh before she squared her shoulders, _"We can talk about her later Naruto-kun, for now you must know the reason I'm telling you all this. You have that same blood in you, that same substance and mutations that all the other ninja aspirants possess, the difference here is, you also have me, the strongest of the free creators left in the world, sealed within you."_

"But you're not free…" He got a tail thwacking him in the head for his trouble.

"_Do you want my help or not?!"_

He gave her a playful grin before clearing his throat and trying to look a bit more serious, the act only making her smile all the more. "Yes Ma'm!"

She gave a curt nod, _"Good, Now then, as I said, you have that blood in you, but it is diluted, I can 'fix' that, but it is not without its risks, you could change, like the others. However, with a bit of luck, I can help guide these changes, should they occur, but for now, we will have to focus on the powers, rather than the physical. Your teacher needs your help, and I can feel them growing closer. Make no mistake, your Irkua is strong, but he was gravely injured in trying to protect you, and soon you will have to act."_

"How, How Shiori-chan, Mizuki's a chunin! I know I learned a good move, but will it be enough?"

She smirked as the teen rose from his seat to grip the bars. _"Naruto-kun, you know better than I that with all your training, even with the bad food, that you could probably handle him, I simply wish to give you that edge, and to start you on the path to greatness!"_

He gave her a long, strange, look, "Why?"

Shiori's face froze in a mask of shock, she had been hoping he wouldn't ask that, _"P-Pardon?"_

"Why do you want to help me? Why don't you hate me…try and break free?"

She gave the young teen a soft smile, _"I could never hate you Naruto-kun, you had no control over what all has happened to you…so much like happened to me…to us…even back in the labs we never had it as bad as you did, despite the tests at least we knew they were going to feed us…and we had 'the First'…our girl…"_

"But don't you want out?!"

"_Yes, but not at the cost of your life, Naruto-kun….if you try and remove that seal, then we die." _ She saw the devastated look in his eyes as he plopped back into the chair, she crept forward again to run a hand down his cheek, _"Do not fear, Nartuo-kun, I could not have asked for a better container than you. Your dreams, their purity, they sustain me. I will always been with you, Naruto-kun, whispering to you, guiding you. Never fear, even in your darkest, I will never leave you."_

Shining blue seas turned to deep emerald orbs in a mix of curiosity, joy and sadness. Stormy blue eyes flicked about her face for a moment, searching for any deceptions, before she lashed out, faster than he could react her hands took his orange jumpsuit by the collar and pulled him to the bars. Dimly he was aware of the dull pain of his cheeks striking steel, but that thought was blasted away as he felt her lips press to his in a hungry kiss. His eyes were wide in shock for a moment before he let them flutter closed, his body leaning against the bars. However, before he could reach his arms around her she pushed him back with a giggle, a hand absently coming up to wipe a stray tear from her cheek as she wrapped her arms around herself and let out a laugh.

"_Our time is up, Naruto-kun, you have to go now, but keep an ear open, we have not finished here."_

Before he could object he felt the world seeming to draw away, much like it had when he had first found himself in the sewer, slowly, but getting faster, he saw the cage pulling away only to be replaced by the darkened forest. In that moment his senses came rushing back to him, damp earth, fresh blood, blade oil, it was all there.

He had to fight the urge to jump up as he heard a crash behind him as Mizuki was thrown into another tree by…Naruto? Mizuki looked at the boy in shock "How!? How did you know I wasn't Iruka!?"

'Naruto' smirked before falling back against a tree before he was covered in white smoke, "That's easy…because I am!"

Mizuki growled as he staggered to his feet, "Why! You hate the fox as much as I do! He killed your parents!"

Naruto froze behind his stump at hearing Iruka agree, his world darkening that much more at the thought of it. "Ya…Your right, I hate the fox…but not the boy."

Tear filled eyes shot open even as he felt what was like a hug come over him, _'I told you Naruto-kun, trust your heart…now, it is time! Push my power into your hands, and focus on what you feel the most comfortable with, so long as it can deal with that trash!'_

"For the boy I have nothing but respect, he is an excellent student!! You'll never understand him, he has been through worse than any of us, and it has given him empathy, something more of us need…"

"If you love him that much…then I'll send you along FIRST!" Iruka gave a sad smile as Mizuki brought his second shruiken to bear, its razor edge becoming a blur as it started to spin before he reared back.

'So this is the end…sorry Naruto…looks like I won't be able to see you achieve your dream…' However, before the blade could be loosed he saw an orange blur and Mizuki was sent flying into a nearby tree.

Steel blue eyes locked on Mizuki as Naruto felt that same red chakra flow through his body, settling on his hands, the two older ninja watching in shock as his left hand and forearm began to shimmer slightly before what looked like a whirlwind encased his arm, with the right Iruka had to fight the urge to shout in shock as his shin seemed to _split_ before, from the open wounds, what looked like a honeycomb began to form, from the blackened recesses of the comb came crawling what looked to be wasps, but they were far too large for a normal insect. "If you lay one more finger on Iruka-sensei, I'LL KILL YOU!"

Mizuki smirked as he whipped the blood from his lip, "There you are demon! That makes my job that much easier…now DIE!" Again the shruiken came forward but much to his surprise Naruto flicked his left hand forward and what looked to be a small cyclone appeared on the forest floor right in the path of his weapon. As the shruiken passed over it the wind suddenly intensified and blew itself out, but the job was done as the blade was sent sailing into the night sky, only to come back down and stick into a tree. "My turn! Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Mizuki and Iruka watched, mouth agape, as hundreds of Naruto's filled the forest, each popping joints, rolling shoulders and in general, looking as intimating as they could, the sounds of buzzing filling the night air as well as the sounds of rushing wind. "_Naruto-kun, use them together…"_ He gave a curt nod and as Mizuki started to fall back in shock another small cyclone appeared on the ground behind him, and as his seat hit the floor it sent the man airborne, bowing his back like an inverted 'U' , however, as he reached the tops of the trees he hit another, then another, and another. Again and again the chunin-turned-traitor was thrown about the forest, slamming painfully against trees only to be launched once more. Finally he seemed to reach the end of his journey, silted eyes staring blurry down at the forest floor only to see what looked to be ten more of the little cyclones, but that alone is not what made his eyes widen again in horror, no, it was the fact that interlaced in the wind were what looked like massive insects of some form, their buzzing only hinting at the pain that was to come. "Now for a new jutsu! Straight from Naruto's ninja handbook! Assassin's Typhoon!! The Swarm of Death!" As Mizuki 'hit' the ground he was launched again into the air, however this time he was not alone, hundreds of the massive wasps swarming about him, stinging and, much to his horror, biting hunks of flesh from his hands and face before the feeling of weightlessness took him once more, his body rotating lazily in the air as the swarm that had been left behind in his mad flight caught him, holding him in the air for a time before he plummeted to the earth once more where he was grabbed by a squad of newly arrived ANBU.

The sounds of popping filled the forest that night, as well as a great plume of white smoke as the clones dispelled themselves and Naruto stumbled over to Iruka, his reserves spent, "Iruka-sensei…are you OK?"

He gave a weak smile before nodded then gesturing for the teen to come closer. "Come here Naruto, and close your eyes…" Naruto did as he was asked and felt his 'older brother' pull his goggles from his forehead, before replacing them with something that felt oddly cold. "Now, open." He did so to see an Iruka he had never seen before, something about him just looked…off. "Congratulations Naruto, you graduate!"

The boy's eyes widened in shock as the rays of the rising sun pierced the dense tree-tops, causing the steel on his forehead to reflect light onto his injured teacher, he could only stare for a moment before he launched himself at the older chunin, hugging him for all his worth.

Inside Naruto, 'Kyuubi' watched and seemed to bask in the joy that was running through the young man, her man, if she had anything to say about it. _'Naruto, this world isn't ready for us…but here we are…and if I have anything to say about it, this rapture in your soul, is just the beginning….'_


	2. Chapter 2: A deal made with Shadows

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bioshock(2) (And I'm rather certain they didn't own System Shock…didn't stop them from copying it)

A/N: Already doing another chapter!? Unheard-of from me? Maybe…but the idea just WONT GET OUT OF ME HEAD! Now I know that the last chapter was filled with a lot of rather glaring mistakes on my part, something I'm normally more than a bit obsessive over, but in this case I was a bit pre-occupied, a good friend of mine had just separated from her husband so a lot of us got together to keep her company, kinda ate into my review time, so I posted it and ran out the door. I fixed a few of the mistakes (Ones that I spotted, if you know of more let me know (and point them out), please, it helps me improve) Now a few things I didn't mention last time, as I tend to try and leave a lot of things up to the reader's imagination, it may just be me, but I like being able to take a handful of facts and build a character's image in my own head.

That and I don't want to read three paragraphs on a person's description. Admittedly, I will tend to go hog wild on weapons/armor but in my mind that is something that so many will vary on that it needs to be done.

Naruto, as pointed out, is a bit older here, like in my other fic, it just feels wrong to try and write things like citrus when they are younger than say, sixteen, and that is still pushing it. I don't intend to have more than a lime before a time skip, meaning that the (almost) sixteen Naruto will be about eighteen post skip. Tenten, being a year younger, is fourteen and the rest of the cast is only about a year older than canon. Now that said, I'm going for a FemKyubi/Anko/? (Still deciding on the last one. Some are suggesting Teten, though she can easily go into a sister role, some say Tayuya, who I like a lot, and the interplay with Anko could be comedy gold. I myself wouldn't mind Kin (as she is not used much) or Mei, the Mizukage. If I went that path this may end up in the vein of that Water Goddess challenge…PM me and let me know your thoughts, or leave them in reviews please.)

Lastly, as LoPe pointed out to me (Good guy, has helped a lot with my stories) it seemed I was rambling a bit with Shiori's discussion and that was something I was actually going for with her. Speaking from experience I know that folk will tend to simply babble when they have an audience when they have not had a lot of interaction with others, I see it a lot up at the game shop I frequent (Not video, this is board, mini and card gaming) and I like to think that she would be the same, especially when it is 'her man', any chance to talk and keep talking would be valuable for her after fifteen years of silence.

Oh, and thanks to those that reviewed so quickly, my inbox was filled by the time I got to my friend's house with various alerts, made me a bit giddy.

Anyway, on with the show, and if you like this fic, check out my first offering, Journeys: Shadow of the Leaf. You may like it ^_^

* * *

Rapture is just the Beginning

Chapter 2: A deal made with Shadows

* * *

The journey back to the village was a trying one for our young hero. It was still quite early in the morning, something he was both thankful for, but also cursed. While there would be far less people on the streets, meaning that many less glares and mumbled curses, those that were stumbling home from their night of celebratory drinking, those proud fathers and mothers of the academy graduates having seized the opportunity for a night of wonton indulgence. These people were easily spurred into a mob, and with the lack of a larger crowd they were all the more likely to act, after all, when there were many about that meant that there were more witnesses that could be oh so easily coaxed into giving up their identities when Ibiki got his hands on them.

Careful, almost skittish blue eyes darted into shadowed recesses and alleyways as he helped the hobbled teacher towards the tower, cursing that the ANBU that had carted away Mizuki to the hospital didn't take Iruka with them. He didn't care about carrying the man, far from it, but he knew their speed techniques could get him the help he so desperately needed all the faster.

"Iruka-sensei, if you think you can take it, I can move faster."

The chunin gave him a weak smile and shook his head, biting back the wince that wanted to take over his features. "No Naruto, right now it's best not to rush, it could re-open some of these wounds."

Naruto, however, couldn't hide his flinch, "S-sorry…"

Iruka grinned at the younger man, "None of that, if I was faster I wouldn't have been hit."

Naruto shook his head at that, "No…If I had been better I wouldn't have needed saving at all…hell, if I had seen through that bastard's trick it wouldn't have ever happened."

Naruto almost stumbled as he felt a phantom smack to the back of his head, an oddly furry one. _"Naruto, he was your teacher, you trusted him, it was he that was in the wrong there."_

"Naruto, there was no way you could have known. Hell, I knew the man for years and never saw it coming. Although I think this explains the low test scores…"

Naruto snorted as they finally reached the smaller outer wall of the Tower, "You got that right…He all but walked out of the ring to give Sauske the win in the tests, then used some kind of advanced grappling to throw me into a wall…"

Iruka did wince at that, he had always looked at Mizuki's offering to lead the sparing practical's as a godsend, having been forced to rise at ungodly hours to ready is lesson plans coupled with long nights spent studying for his own jonin exams or grading papers. Not for the first time he cursed his own failings, being dishonorably discharged from ANBU had hurt, but his demotion to chunin had hurt more. "Look, Naruto, I know I didn't do very well, but if you let me I think I can help make up for that."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the man as they scaled the last of the spiral staircase to the Hokage's office, the boy's arms burning with the exertion of carrying both his sensei and the scroll, "What do you mean Iruka-sensei?"

"You don't know, but there will be a month before team placements, to give students a chance to rest and recover from the stresses of the test, if you let me, I would like to train with you, see where I may be able to help. I know that you train with team nine, but Gai is not known for his ninjutsu or ginjutsu training. That's where I come in."

Naruto looked to his teacher with wide eyes, only those of Team Gai had ever made him such an offer, not for the first time this day the teen felt the sting of tears and gave a happy nod, surprising the chunin at the fact that Naruto was actually being quiet in his joy, giving him one of the few, true smiles he had seen on the boy.

The Hokage's assistant sent Naruto and Iruka a glance and pained smile, one of the indifferent ones, but never liking to see anyone hurt, before she opened the door for them, the pair stumbling in and quickly lowering Iruka. Naruto was a bit surprised to see two ANBU and the Sarutobi clan's personal healer were already there and waiting. Looking to their leader for a moment and seeing his slight nod they moved up to the teacher and with a swirl of leaves they were gone, earning a glare from Naruto.

"Why didn't you send them sooner!? Iruka-sensi could have died!"

Hard brown eyes instantly silenced Naruto as he took a step back; he had never seen that look from the old man. "Naruto, as much as I appreciate your concern, now is not the time to be making demands. What you have done this night is not something that can be simply ignored."

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat and hastily pulled the scroll from his back and dropped it on the desk. "S-Sorry, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi hid his surprise well, in all the years he had known the boy he had never called him that, it seems he understood the gravity of the situation. "Nartuo, you know you will have to be punished, don't you?"

The blond teen gave a hesitant nod, he knew that if it came down to the council then he was doomed. He would be dead before the afternoon bell rang. "W-What is to be my punishment, Hokage-sama…"

The man let out a pained sigh as he pulled the wide brimmed hat from his brow to rub his liver-spotted head. "Naruto, I really didn't want to do this…you must understand…" Seeing the younger man start to tremble he pressed forward, "Naruto, I'm afraid the only punishment fitting of this crime is a life of service."

The boy felt his heart drop into his knees as he felt the phantom arms wrap around him once more, words to soft to understand echoing in his mind. "P-prison…"

He gave the boy a pained smile, "Naruto, in one month's time your cell will be ready for you."

Naruto could feel not only himself, but Shiori blink for several long moments in confusion bordering on shock. "E-Excuse me? I thought that I would be sent off right away…"

Sarutobi finally let a grin split his weathered face, "Unless I'm mistaken, your sensei passed you this morning Naruto, and therefore in one month you must be placed in a cell."

The aged leader dropped into his chair holding his ribs in laughter as Naruto's jaw connected with the floor, his shoulders hunched as his arms hung limply at his sides. "WHAT!!!"

Sarutobi whipped a tear from his eye as he placed the hat back on his head. "Naruto, you may be a great prankster, but you are fifty years too young to be able to out-prank me!"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed several times, the act making him little more than a fish for a moment before he dropped limply into a chair across from the Hokage. "B-But I stole the scroll!"

The older man nodded, "Indeed, at the order of a superior officer, as you should have. You then aided in apprehending a traitor who sought to steal it. Did you not?" He gave a hesitant nod. "And the scroll is unharmed?" Naruto gave a half shrug; anyone could see that it was dirty and somewhat frayed now. "Then I don't see a problem."

The pair sat in a strained silence for a time, Naruto screwing up the courage to ask what had been on his mind even in his 'fight' with Mizuki, "Um…Ojiji…"

"Hm?"

"W-Why didn't you tell me about my dad?"

You could have heard a pin drop across town as a suffocating silence descended on the room, Sarutobi gaping at the blond before he schooled his features, "W-What are you talking about Naruto? I don't know who yo-"

Naruto's knuckles went white as his hands clenched into tight fists, his hands letting out a painful sounding series of pops. "Old man, don't lie to me!" He rose to his feet and let a fist impact the table, the skin on his knuckles splitting and his blood pooling, "My father was the Fourth! He put Shiori-chan in my gut! Now talk!"

Now it was the old man's turn to look a bit confused, "Shiori?"

"THE KYUUBI!"

The Hokage gave a slight nod, filing the name into the back of his head for now. "Naruto, you must understand, it was for the best that-"

Again his fist crashed into the desk, "Don't give me that SHIT! You KNOW it would have made the world of difference, I would have friends…I wouldn't be hurt all the time…"

"But Iwa would have tried Naruto, you must know how much they hated the Fourth."

Naruto eyed the man for a moment, noting that he had never looked quite that tired before, "And YOU must know, that they would have had to come through the whole of the village to get to me, I know we were hurting after the 'Kyuubi attack' but they were decimated after the war, they would be in no shape to come after me. So tell me another!"

He let out a pained sigh before rising and moving over to his own painting. There he slid it aside to reveal a complex looking seal that was quickly opened with a swipe of blood. A section of the wall simply dissolved into nothingness as the Hokage reached into the little cubbyhole and pulled out two scrolls. Taking a moment to re-apply the seal and replace the painting he tossed the scrolls to Naruto, who was a bit surprised to see both the Third's and the Fourth's seals on them. "Open mine first, I made sure you would be able to, should I die in office."

Naruto flinched at the thought of the old man, the only one that really took care of him, dying. With a practiced hand he cracked open the scroll and unfurled it, surprised to see that it actually head a pair of seals under a short message.

'To the bearer of this scroll,

This has either come to you by my will, or my passing, contained herein are two private messages to one Naruto Usumaki, do not inform him of the existence of, or gift him with these scrolls until you feel he may be ready for them, they are messages from his family, please see to the last scroll of our honored Forth, it explains more of the…unique nature of said man.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.'

Deciding to heed the words in the scroll he instead rolled it up, surprising the aged leader, before turning to the other scroll.

'To those concerned,

These final words of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Nimikaze, the Yellow Flash, Seal Master of Konoha. Know that there is little time, so please bear with me. Even know the Kyuubi is bearing down on us for reasons that we cannot fathom, and soon I will have to enter battle against the beast. Now if you are reading this then I assume that you are my successor and you will need to know about the horrific burden I have placed upon those dear to me. My son, I hope, is to be seen as the hero he is for keeping such a beast at bay, and you may or may not know him as Naruto Uzumaki, you may be wondering why he and my dear wife do not bear my name, but my reasoning is twofold, firstly as you know I had made quite the name for myself in the war, and with good reason I fear retribution against them for my actions, although I hope that my dear Kushina can keep them at bay, I decided it would be best to take that extra precaution. The second is a bit more practical, I don't want my boy to grow up like some spoiled brat, or worse, one of those uptight Hyuga…Please, do not inform the boy of his true heritage until his mother feels he is read.

The Fourth Hokage, Minato Nimikaze'

Naruto growled slightly but after a moment nodded, it made sense, he remembered seeing Neji in school, he was an insufferable ass…and Sauske was a thousand times worse, thinking that he didn't even have to acknowledge people at all, at least Neji would do that much…

Letting out a sigh he rolled up the Fourths scroll and tossed it back to Sarutobi and, after a moment of thinking about it, tossed the other as well. At his strange let out a tired sigh, "As much as I may want to read it…and I really…really do, you have never steered me wrong old man, so I'll wait until you think I'm ready."

The Hokage simply gaped at Naruto for a moment, he had never seen the boy act this mature before. "Naruto…"

He gave the man a pained smile, "I had to do some growing up last night…I was tricked to easily, ended up needing to be saved…I have a lot of work to do…"

The elderly leader sat back with a smile before tossing the scroll back to Naruto, who looked from the scroll to him again with an arched brow, "You have grown Naruto, when you get a chance read those, but wait to be alone, when you are done then come see me. Now, tell me about this 'Shiori'"

Naruto let out a sigh as he slipped the scroll into his vest, "That's kinda a long story…I guess it started about the time I was kicked out of the orphanage…you know that night was…bad."

He winced at the memory, Naruto had been in surgery for ten hours, even with his healing abilities it was touch and go, after the boy had been out for a week, the only thing the doctors knew was that he was dreaming, "When I was sleeping,' he let out a slight chuckle, 'I thought it was a dream, I was in that little clearing up on the monument you took me to…but there she was, sitting quietly and letting her feet play in the water…for a little…I thought she was my mother, she was just so kind…no one else by Ayame-nee-chan had been. We just sat and talked, she told me stories and we chased rabbits." Sarutobi's eyes widened at seeing a tear slip down the boy's cheek, it was times like this that he was truly reminded of how young Naruto really was. "Honestly, I never wanted to leave…after that week, she forced me to go…she said that that was all just a dream, and that we couldn't live in our dreams…we had to try and make them real." He let out a pained sigh, "Then I woke up…after that I never saw her again, but I remember that place, it's the reason I kept making you take me there, I was hoping that maybe…"

"You don't have to say it Naruto, I know how you feel…"

Naruto's head snapped up, his face a mask of fury but bit back his retort at the look in the elderly man's eyes, he was harshly reminded at the loss of the man's wife…one of his sons…He gave a sad smile and a slight nod, "Ya…I guess you do…"

The pair sat in silence for a time before Naruto took a shaky breath, and pressed on.

It was reaching noon by the time Naruto had finished with his story, as each hour passed the Hokage's eyes seemed to widen further and further, while it was hard to fathom, at the same time it did explain a few things. How humans developed the ability to wield the very elements themselves, how great beasts would be able to speak, let alone the skill to summon them. The seemingly random evolution of the different bloodline limits and the 'chakra heart' that all ninja seemed to possess, something that civilians had, but it seemed to have either let it atrophy, or simply have it that way when born. He did make sure to note the way he blushed towards the end of his tale, making sure to gloss over the physical description of the woman sealed inside him.

Lucky bastard seemed to have quite the woman already smitten with him. The figure of a goddess, literally, with potentially thousands of years of knowledge to bring to bear…his student would kill to meet this woman.

"Naruto, you can speak with Shiori, can you ask her if this…purifying of your blood, will be genetic?"

Naruto didn't even have to repeat the words before he gave a slight nod, "She says it's no different from when they were first injected into the test subjects, just with her in me she should be able to help with any random mutations, although that should be at a minimum because of the fact I'm not going to keep injecting myself with the…" After another moment of mumble seemingly to himself he continued, "She called it a plasmid, or the other a 'gene tonics'. She said that she would simply listen to what I would like to see, and she would see what she could do, but that she couldn't do much more, as my healing rate already pushed things…"

Sarutobi's eyebrows rose a bit at that, the Kyuubi…no, Shiori, could alter Naruto's genetic code to whatever he wanted…would there be a limit to his power? "Naruto, is there any adverse effects between these…tonics, and the other powers?"

After another moment he shook his head, "No, according to Shiori the 'tonics' will affect the body, or modify the effects of the powers, making them more chakra efficient, or more powerful. Or could make me stronger, faster and the like…it really depends…Also, according to her, one of the main problems was that people would 'exchange' the tonics too often, getting what they needed or wanted at the time…that lead to a greater chance of mutation…It was like a drug to them."

The hokage scowled at the thought of such people, but who was he to judge, if he had a little jar here with a liquid that promised to extend his life fifty years and all you had to do was inject it he would jump at the chance. Thinking for a moment on the repercussions of the alterations he made a decision, "Naruto, I want you to report to me before team assignments, let me know what all the Kyu-' Nartuo leveled a glare at the man, 'Shiori has done to you, depending on that, we may be able to…circumvent your father's wishes…"

Sarutobi could almost see Naruto exchanging a look with his 'inner self' "Huh?" was his rather lacking reply.

"Naruto, you know about some of the clan laws, yes?" He gave a hesitant nod, "Naruto, if you are the last of your clan, or if you are in possession of a unique bloodline th-"

"_Then you gain clan protections! Naruto-kun, they couldn't touch you without a clan majority vote, ninja or not, the civilians and even the elders could do nothing without their vote…it's not a final answer, as many of them don't like you…but they won't let their emotions interfere with the village!"_

Naruto was a little shocked to realize that even as Shiori was talking he had been repeating her, while he wasn't worried, the Hokage was another matter, "Naruto…how many times has that happened…"

Naruto just shrugged, "Never, to my knowledge…"

"_It's not something I make a practice of Lord Hokage, and I can't do it for long, it's only Naruto-kun that will allow it at all, I'm thankful for his trust in this, but you should understand that I possess a bit more knowledge in this field than he."_

The elderly leader let out a heavy sigh, she was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "She's right Naruto, while the clan aspect is still closed to us, if she can give you that kind of power, then we can file you under the possessor of a new kekkei genkai. However, there would be a…problem with that…" The boy arched an eyebrow and waited for the answer, "With such a clan act being initiated you would be expected to take more than one wife, in order to produce enough heirs and keep the bloodline active."

Naruto sat in stunned silence for several long moments before a rather…unique giggle sounded though his mind, _'Oh…my my…that could be fun…'_

"N-NANI!!!" Sarutobi wasn't quick enough to cover his now ringing ears, looking at the boy in confusion. Said teen was currently pulling at his hair, mumbling something about having a pervert trapped in his head, making the older man laugh.

'_Oh come now Naruto-kun, you must know that it's every man's dream to have more than one woman…'_

'Shiori…I wouldn't be able to get one woman, let alone more.'

He felt a phantom hand on his cheek once more, the soft stroking of her thumb earning her a content sigh from the teen, '_Naruto-kun, you and I are bound to one another until the day you die, and let me tell you, with my alterations it will be a long life indeed. A marriage will be only a formality at that point.'_

'Shiori…you shouldn't have to marry me just because-' He winced at another smack to the head.

'_None of that…would I kiss you if it was simply that you and I are stuck together? Remember what I said to you this morning?'_

He felt a strange warmth settle in his chest at that, 'You said that you couldn't have asked for a better container…that you would never leave me…'

He could feel her nod, and a playful smirk to her tone, _'It doesn't hurt that I know what you look like under all that orange…'_

Naruto seemed to choke on nothingness for a moment, flushing to his hairline and making the elder arch an eyebrow. "Naruto, are you alright?"

He gave a slow nod before hearing her chiding voice one more, _'Also, we're going to do something about those jumpsuits…' _He winced but before he could answer her pressed on, _'Now now, none of that, I know all about it, and we will overcome it, we will rise above it all dear one. None will stand against us!'_

Sarutobi watched in interest as for the last several minuets the man across from him had his face run the gambit of emotions, all ending with a steely look in his eyes before giving a curt nod. "Hokage-sama, Iruka-sensei has requested this month off to train me, and with Shiori's help I think I can make great strides…do you know what the teams are yet?"

His leader gave a shake of his head, "Not all of them, not yet. All I know is that the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi will be teamed together at the request of their fathers."

He let out a bark of laughter at that, "Oh…Shika and Ino are going to LOVE that…Well, I hope when it comes to me you will be kind old man."

The Hokage laughed at that, "As kind as I can be, Naruto, as kind as I can be. Now get out of here and get some rest, I know you haven't slept since yesterday, and I bet your about to drop."

Naruto didn't want to say thing, he had been fighting 'the yawns' for the last few hours and even Shiori was starting to sound tired. He gave a grateful smile before pulling himself to his feet and turning to leave. "Oh! Naruto…"

"Hm?"

"I was wondering, could you give me a demonstration of those powers of yours, before you go?"

The teen smirked as he focused on his hands once more, like before the shimmer surrounded his left hand before the whirlwind formed again even as his skin split on his right to let the hive emerge, the several inch long wasps beginning to crawl on his arm. The elderly leader gaped at the boy for a moment before he flicked his left hand at the desk, the resulting cyclone sending his papers scattering about the room and ruining the carefully tended to paperwork. The old man letting out a string of curses before he was silenced again, a swarm of wasps flying out and pinning the different papers all over the room before they seemed to fade into blue whips of chakra, the stingers keeping the documents in place. Naruto's smile could outdo the sun even as Shiori cackled madly in his head, "That's just a taste old man, I'll let you know what else I can do when I lean to use it..." He gave a small wave over his shoulder before stepping from the room and making his way home. It had been a LONG two days.

'_And it will be a longer night still, Naruto-kun.'_

'Ero-fox…'

A feeling of sadness washed over him for a moment before she continued, _'No, Naruto-kun, as much as I may desire what you are thinking of…'_ He winced a bit at that, earning a giggle, _'we have to start the changes tonight, and I'm afraid it will be…less than pleasant…'_

To her surprise he only laughed and sent the equivalent of a mental hug to her, 'Story of my life Shiori-chan, only difference is this time it will be worth something!' He could feel her surprise through their apparent link and smirked, 'Just let me be there when you are making the changes, I want to have at least a _bit_ of input, and make sure you don't do everything for your…own interests.'

'_P-Pervert…'_

He let out another bark of laughter, earning startled jumps from those around him as he rounded the last corner and started head down the last street that would take him to his little apartment. 'Anything for you, Shiori-chan.'

She decided that two could play that game, a purr dancing in his ear as she sent the sensation of a heated breath over the lobe, _'That, dear one, is my line…'_

A shiver ran up the teen's spine as his apartment came into sight. 'Shiori-chan…how will this work…you said yourself I'll die if I remove the seal.'

A smirking redhead filled his mind's eye, _'Honestly, I don't know yet Naruto-kun, it won't be easy, but we will find a way, trust me.'_

'You know I do Shiori-chan…you never have to ask me for that.'

As the teen let the door close he felt that same, ghost like embrace he had been feeling most of the day and smiled before shedding his coat, letting a hand run down his arm absently, tracing one of many long scars that created a kind of map for him. They were light, faded, but he knew where they were, even if others could never spot them. He could 'feel' a second hand behind his for a moment before letting out a sigh and fixing a quick three cups of ramen for his dinner before quickly letting the noodley broth slide down his throat with a slight wince. He wish he had a chance to do a bit of hunting.

He wished he had some rabbit.

Sidestepping a few of the loose tiles he made a snaking path to his bathroom and kicked on the water. Not bothering to waste time for the water to get warm, the heater hadn't existed in the first place, having been ripped out when it was discovered who would be living in this apartment all the heating systems had been removed, under the guise of the landlord needing to repair them, then simply leaving things as they were. Stepping under the icy spray without so much as a shiver he went about washing off the blood and grime. Soap was luxary for the boy, keeping it in a bit of old pottery he had found, but he really didn't want the lingering scent of blood on him this time.

He never minded his own…but this was Iruka's…and he wouldn't have that reminder reach his dreams this night.

Inside him all thoughts the fox-girl may have had to tease or tempt him had fled at that stray thought. She knew that he would be beating himself up about that for many a month, or at least until Iruka pounded it out of him in training. Instead she took the opportunity to order her thoughts as to what would need to be done this night. Knowing that at the least she was going to have to even out his physical form, years of malnutrition and physical abuse had stunted him to the point he had hardly grown an inch in three years, rather than looking the part of a sixteen year old shinobi, he was more like the child of ten he had been, and had been ridiculed for it for much of his life.

One down, a potential hundred to go…

Shutting off the water and taking a moment to drip dry he pulled back on his underclothes and pants he headed back to his bedroom before plopping onto the bed and drawing out his scrolls, after a moment of thinking he rise and after sliding a few floorboards around revealed his little cubby hole, it didn't hold much, a picture of him and the Third, a small stuffed frog he had found at the foot of his bed in the orphanage, the small toy couldn't even be rightly called a frog anymore, it had seen so much wear, and lastly he had the kunai that had been pulled from his guy the day he met Tenten, that pain had lead to one of the few true joy's in his life, and he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it, much less use it in battle. He quickly added the pair of scrolls before moving a completely different set of boards to re-seal the hidey hole. They would be there tomorrow, and he was so tired right now he was certain that he would never be able to recall it all come the morning, especially with what was going to be happening here soon.

Jumping into the center of his bed he tossed off the threadbare sheets, knowing that in pain he would be thrashing a bit, and not wanting to destroy the bedding. He lay back, and at Shiori's suggestion pulled back off the orange pants, leaving the boy in a black sleeveless undershirt and is grey boxers before he lay back and let his eyes drift close, letting his mind drift back into the sewers that he had met her in last time.

"Shiori-chan?"

A Smiling face appeared by the bars, as though summoned by her thoughts, _"Naruto-kun! Why are you here? You should be sleeping."_

He let out a mirthless chuckle at that before moving to the still present chair and settling in. "You know that I won't be sleeping tonight, so I thought I could keep you company. Have you come up with any ideas for me?"

She sank into the chair in her cell with a smile, _"Only fixing your body for now…but I'm sure I can think of something as we go…are you ready?"_

After a moment of thought he let out a heavy sigh and nodded as he gripped the chair's arms in anticipation of the pain to come.

It had been a long day, and would be a longer night still.

Blurry eyes took in the light of the coming dawn with a groan echoing though the brightening room. He had managed to get about ten hours sleep, and didn't remember much of the time he had with Shiori.

That was both a blessing and a curse.

While he was more than happy to not remember the pain, at the same time he wasn't entirely sure what all had been done to him either.

Slowly the teen made to sit up, his body screaming in protest. It felt like he had just gone ten rounds with the Hokage monument. He absently slung his legs over the side and let out a yelp of pain as his feet slammed painfully into the floor. He pulled one back up to lap and rubbed it before freezing. He knew what his legs looked like, and these weren't his legs. They were to long, to muscular, what all had been done to him?!

He looked to his arms as well and was equally surprised, while he wouldn't be called a body builder or anything he was obviously strong, just from looking he could tell that years of damage had been undone. While he still had his scars the amount of muscle had been increased to what it should have been, he felt, after all the work he had done.

He sent a question to Shiori only to be met with silence. A feeling of dread welled up in him as he settled to the bed in a cross legged sit and tried to calm himself, doing his best to try and find his way back to the cage. After several panicked minuets there was a groggy voice echoing through his head.

'_Naruto-kun…what's wrong?'_

He let out a head breath and grinned ear to ear, 'Oh thank Kami, Shiori, you scared me, is everything OK?'

The redhead chuckled and he felt what had to be a pat on the shoulder, _'Oh course I'm alright, I'm just tired, you took a lot out of me last night.'_

Naruto fought back the blush that threatened to take him over before giving a nervous chuckle, 'Um…Shiori-chan, we didn't…DO anything…did we?'

He could feel the playful grin as she sent another purr racing through his mind, '_It must not have been that memorable then, Naruto-kun….I'll have to try harder next time…'_

He chuckled at that, 'Not funny.'

A mad cackle met his ears followed shortly by a yawn, _'I thought it was…but if everything is alright then go get ready and try out this new body, I'm tired and need my beauty sleep.'_

He sent a nod her way and made to stand, only to crumple to the floor as his body overbalanced itself. Blinking a few times he tried again and this time launched himself a foot off the ground before falling once more. Grumbling at the giggle in his mind he pulled himself to all fours and slowly made to stand, his legs in a wide stance in hopes of lessening the loss of equilibrium, and with the help of his dresser succeeded in standing. After several long moments, practicing balancing and moving close to the walls he was relatively certain he could walk and, shuffling, made his way to his bathroom again.

There he had to fight the urge to rub his eyes, blinking owlishly at the sight that greeted him. There, staring back, was the Yondaime Hokage, only a bit younger, and with whisker marks on his face. Taking a moment to slap himself, making sure he was not still asleep, he studied himself again. The once slightly round cheeks, the only fat he really had on his scrawny frame had been burned off as his face seemed to lengthen a bit, his nose holding a less of a curve now, and while his eyes were still large and expressive, they now held a bit of a slant.

Personally, he thought he looked a lot more fox-like with the whiskers.

The once baggy black undershirt now seemed to conform to him like a second skin, as did the once baggy boxers, turning the fabric into something more like boxer-briefs. A thick chest and strong shoulders helped explain why he was having trouble standing before, but he didn't look overly bulky in his mind, though he was certain if he made to body-slam someone that they would feel it. A perverse giggle echoed through his head and he had to fight the urge to send his own mental smack to the fox-girl. He now knew for certain that she was the one that had been the guiding hand in this.

His blond hair had lengthened considerably and seemed to flare out in a long, spiked curtain behind him and knew that this was going to create issues for him later on. However, as he was about to decide to slice it off with Tenten's kunai he felt a sharp slap on his hand _'Don't you DARE!'_

He gave a slight whimper as he absently rubbed his hair, 'But Shiori-chan…it's going to get in the way of training!'

'_But nothing! You looked like a sea urchin before, and once you wash it I'm sure it will lay down better. Use strips from your old jumpsuits to hold it back and you'll be perfect.'_

He grumbled a bit as he made to comply, ripping several long strips from the to-small-pants of his old jumpsuit before binding it in six places, his long hair reaching the small of his back as it's own weight kept it laying down. Turning a bit he smiled at the effect, the orange offsetting his hair nicely, and the multiple bindings made it stand out all the more, as he was certain that there wouldn't be anyone else in the village with his hairstyle.

Pulling the bands of cloth free he hopped in the shower once more and made sure to scrub his hair thoroughly, using the last of his soap to make sure it was clean this time before he finished getting ready, at least as best he could. With the only clothing fitting being his underclothes he was forced to use a henge. Taking a moment to make his choice he went with a copy of what Iruka typically wore before heading out into town, making a bee line for the Higarashi Emporium.

Tenten's home.

Pausing before he left the apartment complex he fought the urge to smack his forehead, this was a golden opportunity! He formed a quick cross shaped hand sign and at once half a dozen clones appeared. Quickly pulling out an impressive roll of bills he dolled the money out to his clones as he barked orders. "Alright everyone, listen up, we won't have long before people realize who we really are. You, go to the bookstore and get books on taijutsu, tactics, strategy, home improvement or even just building new houses and anything else you think we may end up needing. You head to the grocery store, stock up on everything, at least three months worth if you can, get canned everything if you can manage it, and you two help him. You will head to the Hokage tower and tell the old man about some of these changes. You will be heading to the civilian clothing store, you know what I need. Once it's all done see about getting the place fixed up. If you need more clones send one to get me. Alright men, let's move out!

With a curt nod the six took to the rooftops. Several hours later the village hospital would see an influx of people, apparently there was some form of dementia spreading throughout the village, making several people think that the Fourth Hokage had risen from the grave, and had been on a shopping spree.

* * *

A/N: And done, for now, I don't know why, but this story is just pouring out of me, I'm going to try and go work on Journeys a bit after this…but if I feel the twitch then there will be a third Rapture before you can blink ^_^

Naruto himself doesn't yet know the extent of the changes he has gone through, that will start to show up in the next chapter when the new and improved Naruto starts his training with Iruka. Now you will note I didn't tell him to get anything about Jutsu, mainly because I'm not going to have Naruto really using any aside from the plasmids, the academy three, and the shadow clone jutsu. Really, I don't think he will need them once the rest of the plasmids get going. I'm not intending to give them all of them, and most will maintain their abilities in the game, to that end he will not be getting the ice plasmid, it was FAR to overpowered in the games, and I think it would be the same here. The Stinging Swarm is in, as in the cyclone trap, but I'm willing to take opinions for others. My good mate Whitedragon17 has put in his vote for Mei T for the last girl, and made a rather good argument, but I'm willing to hear others ^_^ (I'm looking at you LoPe)

Also, make sure to go check out White's stories, his revised Dragon Among the Leaves is coming along wonderfully, and his story Wolves of Konoha is shaping up to be a ton of fun. Check them out ^_^


	3. Chapter 3: Of Cothing and Dumplings

Disclaimer: I don't own Nartuo or Bioshock(2), yes, you heard me, Bioshock(2).

A/N: First things first. It's now narrowed to Mei and Tayuya, if it really comes down to it then I may take the shot at making my first four girl story. I love all the characters involved, so it wouldn't be a chore or anything, but I just don't know if I could do the relationship justice in this situation. That said, I do have a common point for them all, one that I think would be easy enough and quite good to boot, but it would also work for just three. Right now people have not only put their opinion out there for me, but some have given me some good ideas to, so I'm torn. Keep letting me know though ya?

Tenten is going to be put into the friend/big sister role, that's not to say that she won't have a few moments of temptation for our hero, shes a teen just as much as anyone, and considering her team of two crazies and a pretty boy, having Naruto who fits the bill of what a strong shinobi should look like (Think Ryu from Gaiden in terms of the body) suddenly walk into her life will be…trying…

To that end she will act something of the lovedrunk fool for a bit, but it shouldn't be too bad. I ended up putting Iruka on the backburner for a chapter, figured it would take him a few days to get back up and about, I don't care what cannon showed, getting a shruiken like that in the _spine_ will put anyone down for a while.

* * *

Rapture is just the Beginning

Chapter 3: Of Clothing and Dumplings

* * *

The day had been…unique. Yes, unique could be the best way to describe it. For one, he hadn't been on the receiving end of a single dirty look the whole day. If anything he had been met with looks of shock, confusion, and in the case of some, blushes and looks of adoration.

It was unnerving…

The trip to the Emporium was a swift one, sticking to his back ally shortcuts for the most part, a habit more than anything. Once there he moved to the little side shoot usually used for wood and coal deliveries and shimmied inside, thankful that the shoot was as large as it was, otherwise he knew he would have gotten stuck, instead all he came out with was debris and his long hair, and several biting scratches on his shoulders and elbows. Blinking a few times in the sudden brightness of the store's natural lighting he quickly slipped behind a rack of vests and tried to school his features, making it seem like he had been there all along.

At least it worked when he was smaller…

Now, with his increased height there was no way he was going to be able to go unnoticed. The tall blond flinched slightly at the cry that came from the front of the store, "HEY! You! Hiding in the back! How the hell did you get in here!?"

Turning Naruto blinked in surprise and only his twitch reflexes saved him from getting a kunai in between the eyes. The blade glancing off one of the wooden racks behind him, sending a small storm of steel to the floor as the shuriken displays were upset. Before he could so much as blink the girl was on him, despite her now shorter height she hefted him off the ground and brought her face dangerously close to his own before she hissed, "You have two seconds to explain what you are doing here before I throw you out. If you're lucky I'll even use the door."

The young man in her grasp could only gape at her and point weakly to a rack of clothing. It was now that Tenten noticed that his clothing didn't match what she had in her hand. While he looked to be wearing a chunin vest and blue shirt her hand was apparently _inside_ the clothing. Taking a moment to focus her chakra she sent a pulse through the man and let out a squeak of surprise as the henge faded, revealing a young man in his underwear. "PERVERT!"

He held up his hands in an attempt to fend off her attack but it was to no avail, she already had a hold on him, and it was all she needed to throw him bodily across the room and into the shoot he had just pulled himself from. Tenten, with practiced easy, reached blindly to one of the many shelves and came back with a set of punch daggers. Naruto's head was still spinning as the enraged kunoichi advanced on him only to freeze as the early morning light fully fell upon him, or more specifically, his now exposed mid-drift.

There, just below his solar plexus, was a fine, diamond shaped scar. Brown eyes locked on still spinning blues as the blades fell limply from her hands. "N-Nartuo?"

With a shake of his head he gave her a weak smile, "Remind me never to get on your bad side sis…"

As he rose back to his feet she had to fight to keep hers under her. This was not the boy she knew, the one she had seen two days ago, one who had been so small she could almost give rides on her shoulders. "W-What happened!? I…I dispelled the henge."

He grinned and scratched the back of his head, trying to hide his embarrassment as he slipped behind the rack of vests again, quickly reapplying the henge, "Ya…you did…let's just say I had a growth spurt and leave it at that."

"But-"

He let out a pained sigh as he came to place a hand on her shoulder, causing the girl to look up a bit to look him in the eye, "Tenten, I promise that I'll tell you everything when I understand it all myself, but for now, as you so keenly found out, I need some clothes."

The bun-headed teen blushed to her hairline as her memory flashed with vivid detail; she was suddenly fighting the urge to drool a bit at the memory of those abs. Giving her own head a shake she took a step back, trying to cool herself a bit her pulled at her top, fanning it a bit and almost laughed at Naruto's own flush. "S-So what were you thinking of getting Naruto-kun?"

He began to meander through the aisles, the girl following in his wake as he looked though their stock. "Something that could stand up to everyday missions. You're on an active cell already, so you were the first person I thought of, I have someone already getting some new casual clothing, so all I need is your help!"

She chuckled a bit but nodded, the boy may be hyper, but he was no fool, his street smarts required nothing less. "I trust your mystery shopper will be avoiding the 'kill me' orange?"

Naruto chuckled at that but Tenten had to fight the urge to smack herself when she saw the pained look in his eyes. She knew well enough that he didn't buy those jumpsuits because he wanted to. He may have liked orange, but even he had a limit, and right now it looked to be the strips of cloth that were keeping his hair at bay. "You don't have to worry about that, next time I meet you all for training you won't even recognize me!"

That made her laugh aloud as she patted him on the back, a bit more than was needed, "Naruto, remember, I didn't recognize you five minutes ago…" As her hand was coming down for another pat she froze, realizing that she had been taking the chance to try and feel him up!

She walked ahead of him several paces and started pulling clothing from the racks, shirts in all dark colors and a series of pants, before she tossed them to the blond and pointed to a changing room. "Get!"

He let out a playful whoop before dashing into the room. Several minutes later he popped his head out, "Are you sure about this Tenten?"

She arched an eyebrow at that, "What?"

"Well…it just seems a bit…small."

Now her curiosity was piqued, "That doesn't sound right, come out, let me see."

Naruto stepped from the changing room and caused Tenten's eyes to widen in shock. He currently had on a deep maroon long sleeved shirt and simple black pants. However the whole of the outfit was surprisingly tight on the teen, leaving very little to her imagination. Stopping just short of his waist she tore her eyes away from the blond and looked to where she had pulled the clothing from and was only more confused. It was the genin section, it should have fit…

This time she did smack herself for her foolishness. He may have just been a genin, but he was still two years older than the rest of his class, hell he was a year older than she was, and now finally looked the part. Apologizing she sent him back into the room and pulled a similar outfit from the 'adult' section and tossed it over the door to him, earning her a shout of surprise. Her laughter was short-lived as she was on the receiving end of a face full of the smaller clothing. When she pulled them off her head she smirked.

Much better.

"That's more like it." Naruto was liking the feel of the clothing, the cloths were the same in color, but this time the shirt was short sleeved, letting him show off a bit, but he thought he could still do better. "Tenten, as much as I like the shirt…I think I would rather have something a bit more…unique."

She cocked her head at that but shrugged, the customer is always right. The pair started looking through the different racks again before he spotted it and grinned, causing Tenten to smirk. The boy had style. Quickly gathering up the clothing he dashed back into the changing room and when he reemerged she was not disappointed. Naruto still had on the same black pants, but this time his shirt was styled not unlike her own. A simple, Chinese styled white shirt with black trim, metal fastening running up his chest into a high collar, this time it showed off the whole of his shoulders, and seemed to be almost as tight as the first red shirt, showing off the fruits of his 'training'. Naruto could even feel Shiori purring in his mind as he looked himself over in the full-length mirror. Something was still lacking…

Looking about for a moment he spotted what he was after, a deep, almost royal blue weapon bandolier. He slung the 'sash' about his waist where it would hang a bit off his hip, he doubted it would stay, but he knew he could tie it into position to be a bit more secure, and it would be useful for holding his shruiken to boot. Turning to look at Tenten, intent on asking her for her opinion, he was met instead with a rather dazed look. "Um…Nee-chan?"

She shook herself out of her stupor and, not for the first time today, cursed herself for thinking of her little brother that way. Though who would blame her, the kid had gone from a shrimp to a shark in just two days. "S-Sorry Naruto, what do you need?"

The pair set off into the store again and, after a moment of debating, he picked his way through the weapons sections as he explained what all he needed, first he asked her to have a selection of outfits like this one made or ordered in varying colors, all dark save his white. He decided he would wear that when he was about the village or training on his own. After all, he had gotten a lot better at stealth with the bright orange, so surely the white would make things that much tougher for him while he trained.

Tenten instantly went into 'professional mode' and whipped out a small notepad, not unlike what Gai and Lee would use, and jotted down the order, another two dozen outfits, bandoliers and black sandals that he had requested to have metal plates installed into, complete with weight seals, slowly the pair moved to the back of the store, where Tenten insisted on keeping the more unique weapons.

After looking a moment he grumbled to himself that none of it would work…Tenten's cheeks puffed out in annoyance and demanded to know the problem with their stock, Naruto, raising his hands in order to placate the girl launched into an explanation, "Tenten, it's not the weapons, trust me, your stuff is the best, but it's just not going to work for me…"

Growling she advanced on the blond, "Why."

Letting out a sigh he focused his chakra into his right hand, her eyes widening in shock as his skin split before the comb peaked through and one of the large wasps game out. After her shock faded she took his hand hesitantly into her own and studied it. It seemed go from just below his wrist up through his fingers, exactly where she felt the chakra localized. Careful to avoid the insects she turned his hand over and winced slightly, now she knew what he meant, his palm and finger pads seemed to have the majority of the hive, making it impossible for him to hold normal weapons when he used it. "Naruto…what happened?"

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, and letting the hive fade out once more, he answered, "It's kinda a long story Tenten…let's just say I awakened a bloodline and leave it at that for now. At least until I get this all sorted out in my head."

She gave a slight nod as she poked, prodded and studied his hand and arm; all signs of the hive had vanished from his body. "Are you related to the Aburame?"

She shook his head before let the chakra form in his left arm, again the cyclone appeared and raced up his forearm, causing the brunette to gape. "Nope, I'm something else, and I'm still learning to control it. Right now I can only make the wasps come from my right hand the wind from the left, but I think when I learn the differences that I can adjust it, maybe even use it in other places, I like the idea of a cyclone kick…"

She chuckled at that but nodded, and set to work picking her way through the shelves once more, searching for a weapon that would suit the teen. "So what are you looking for Nartuo. Swords and staves are out of the question with your bugs, and I'm afraid that's what we specialize in."

Naruto looked a bit depressed at that as they moved through the shelves. Eventually he came upon a rather strange looking sword. Picking it up he was surprised to see how fine the blade was, it seemed to have almost no weight, and from the design it looked like it would never be able to hold up to a normal strike. He sent a questioning look to Tenten who picked up the sword and smiled. "I know what you're thinking, but trust me, it's stronger than it looks. My dad designed it as a special order for a water user. The guy ended up being a bum and tried to skip out on the payment, my dad had to put out a B class mission to track him down when he ran off with it. Anyway, the guy was looking for a weapon that was useable underwater, dad said he had a jutsu that could encase the two in water, where the ninja would use his affinity to propel him along and would strike in passing. To that end he needed to have a sword that was light and thin so it would slice through the water easier, so we made a set of these. Now though they are just gathering dust. It's a pity, they are really nice blades. I'll probably end up asking my father for them later on unless another water user shows up wanting them. They deserve a good home."

Naruto nodded at that as he turned the blade over in his hand a few times, testing the weight. It was obviously well made, and upon studying it closer he could tell there were a few seals placed on it that was probably used to keep it from breaking or to keep it sharp. Fine blades indeed. As he looked about at the other weapons close by he noticed a set of wrist blades and was suddenly struck with an idea. "Tenten…how hard would it be to change these swords…like the grips?"

She arched an eyebrow and shrugged, "Full tang blades are simple enough to change, many samurai request it so they can update the wrap pattern and the sheaths to fit with different fashions. Stupid if you ask me…why?"

She smirked as he ran back to where he found his gloved and found a set of heavy leather bracers. "Work with me one this…" He belted the bracers on and brought up the sword to his forearm with the blade arching back towards his elbow. "What if there was a hinge, or a spring or something, so that if I needed to I could,' He flipped the sword forward with a twist so the blade was facing the proper direction, realization dawned on Tenten and she nodded. While the blade was back it could be used like an elbow blade, or in running attacks, great for someone as fast as Naruto, but when snapped forward he could make slashing attacks. It would work, but it would also be hard to make, and told him as much. The blond grinned and waved her off, "It's not like I need it today or anything, it's still a month before team placements, and in that time I'm going to be busy learning how to use my bloodline anyway! Take your time, talk to your dad and then let me know if it will work."

She smiled and, after writing a bit more, nodded. "I'll tell him, but you know that these wouldn't be very safe, you couldn't really sheath them…"

Thinking a moment Tenten's face suddenly lit up, "I've got it…a storage seal could keep them in like with my weapon scrolls, it's perfect, all we have to do is…" Naruto's tried as best he could to keep up with the little maniac but she quickly left him in the dust as she took the swords, another set of bracers and made for the forge, forgetting all about the blond in her zeal to create a new weapon. Naruto let out a sigh as he dropped his allotted cash onto the countertop and summoned a pair of clones to take his new wardrobe back to his apartment, and after a moment summoned one more to track down the one in the civilian clothing stores, so he could get something similar for when he was off duty.

Heading out of the store once more he made his way back towards the fenced in training grounds, so few even came close to the fence that I had been the prime place for him to train at for years. The few times that people had chased him that far they were all brought to a skidding halt when he would hop the fence. He never knew why, the place may have been scary, but so long as you were careful it was actually a pretty fun place.

Well…if you stuck to the trees.

The highest trees…

Ok, it was dangerous as all hell in there, but it had saved his skin more than a few times, so who was he to argue with the place that had literally saved his life. Setting into a light trot he found his way to one of his hide holes and pulled out a bit of the dried fish he had hidden there. Eating a few strips to get back some energy he moved to a stump just outside the fence line and started to search his thoughts, trying to figure out what all had been done to him last night.

'_You want to know?'_

He jumped a bit at the voice, still unused to having someone with him all the time. "Well, if I'm going to figure this all out I'm going to have to, wont I?"

'_Inside voice dear one…'_

Nodding he stuck with his thoughts, 'Sorry Shiori-chan, it's just taking some getting used to.'

He felt her wave him off before the pair settled in. _'Now, as you know, I evened you out a bit, made a few improvements here and there, and helped build up your regeneration rate a bit. Your body is…roughly…what you would have been at if you had eaten more than ramen all those years, not that that was a bad thing, you did all you could after all, but it was hardly a good meal for a growing lad. Your musculature and your skeletal structure have been tweaked a bit, giving them a bit more play, in essence you will be retaining the traits of a young teen for quite some time, letting you build muscle a bit faster, and keeping you from breaking bones as often. Younger bodies are naturally a bit more…elastic I guess you could say, letting them take a bit more punishment before breaking. Should help with training and your career.'_

He gave a curt nod at that, making a mental list of his changes. A more flexible, harder to break skeleton was nice, muscles with more play, always good, even further improvements to his already impressive healing rate, gold.

'_Not faster healing, Naruto-kun, but you should be able to bounce back from anything short of a severed limb, and even then if you still __**have**__ the limb we should be able to do something…now then. I'm sure you're a bit more interested in the other potential powers, and how to bring them to bear.'_

'Ya, Tenten made me start to think of that, can I use the 'plasmid' things in either arm? Or are they limited or what?'

She giggled a bit at that, _'Yes Naruto-kun, the 'plasmid' things can be used elsewhere, you're simply used to shunting my chakra into your hands and arms, but because this is throughout your body, unlike with those that would inject them, and you could theoretically manifest them anywhere, with practice. And once you are used to applying my chakra you should be able to utilize them with your own. It will be a bit harder, but there are some techniques out there specifically meant to stop us, so it would be safer if you didn't rely on my power if you can.'_

He cocked his head slightly as he tried to focus his chakra again, this time more on his right shoulder, nothing happened. 'Ok…I give, how do I tap into these different powers…'

He could feel her smile before she 'took' his hand in hers. After a moment of concentrating he felt she chakra sweep though him again, this time permeating his whole being rather than simply his hands and felt himself start to itch a bit, looking to his left hand this time he saw the skin split, then it seemed to dance up the whole of his arm before the familiar buzzing filled the air once more. Before he could comment to Shiori about the change he felt an odd breeze appear behind him.

Senses long honed from a hard life kicked in and he pitched himself forward, rolling through the short grass to come up in a low crouch, his right hand grasping one of his new kunai tightly as he scowled at the stump, only to have his eyes widen in surprise at what he saw. There, with a short kodachi poised to strike, was the purple haired woman he had seen heading into the forest at night.

"What the HELL are you doing at MY forest!!"

Naruto scowled at that as he rose slowly to his full height, surprising the woman slightly, he was a big one. "Last I check it didn't have your name on it lady!"

She scowled at him as she sheathed the blade, the sheath hidden in the recessed of her trench coat. Now that he had a good look at her he had to fight back a blush, whenever he had seen her before he was more interesting in keeping hidden from any potential attacker, now that he had a good look he was shocked to see her choice of…attire, fishnet, a miniskirt, greaves, sandals, belt and trench coat. That was it. He cocked an eyebrow at her rather…unique hair, but had to smirk, with her stance it was obvious she didn't take shit from anyone.

Fun girl.

"Listen here you little SHIT! This place is restricted for jonin use only, you don't even have a headband, so get the hell out of here gaki!"

The purple haired kunoichi felt a chill run through her and the teen's posture suddenly changed, where once he was standing tall with defiant eyes, now he seemed to be shaking, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his bangs as he his fists clenched in anger. "What did you call me…"

She flinched slightly at the seething anger that seemed to be pouring out of him at her, a bead of cold sweat formed at her neck, much to her cringe. "I SAID, get the hell out of here you little shit!"

Cold blue eyes locked on pupil-less brown as he took a step forward, his chakra starting to surge around him, "I thought that's what you said. Listen here you BITCH! I'm sick of you people and you FUCKING PROBLEM! I was here first! I'm not even in your fucking forest! And even if I was it's not your property! This damned place has saved my life a hundred times and I'll keep coming here as long as I damn well please, and only the Hokage can tell me otherwise, got it!"

Not to be outdone she stepped forward, her own chakra spiking as he hands twitched towards her kunai. "You fucking punk! You think I'm going to let you get away with calling me that in my own HOME!"

That gave the teen pause, but it was quickly washed away as his anger peaked. The pair seemed to just watch once another for a moment before, as suddenly as they had met, they were at each other throats, Naruto's kunai coming forward as one of her own rose to meet it. The rain of sparks and sharp clang filling the clearing and sending the nesting birds skyward.

Naruto planted his right foot hard and, using his forward momentum, spun and turned the move into a back handspring, dodging as number of snakes that seemed to gush from her sleeves. Deciding on his own little friends he threw his left hand forward and a swarm of wasps poured out, making the kunoichi go wide-eyed in horror, she just picked a fight with a major clan member!

Backpedaling and snapping her hand twice in quick succession she let fly a dozen shuriken before her hands found a familiar cross shaped hand sign, making Naruto's eyes widen in shock, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" A dozen became a hundred and sliced the swarm to ribbons, but much to her surprise the bugs seemed to simply burn away into nothingness, tiny wisps of blue chakra. "Ha! Next time you take ME on kid, bring friends!"

Naruto smirked and brought his hands up into a matching seal and made nine clones puff into existence.

"If one won't work…"

"How about ten!" Each of the now gathered blonds made more hand signs.

"How about a hundred!!" Again.

"A thousand!!!"

The clearing was suddenly filled with blonds, everywhere she looked she was an angry teen with kunai in hand and his left arm crawling with wasps. Grinding her teeth she dropped her hips a bit and let her arms go seemingly limp as the first wave charged in. To his surprise she seemed to simply flow around his attacks, like the snakes she had used before she would lash out with little jabs, kicks and throws, dispelling the clones as fast as they would come. His eyes widened in horror as he realized a fatal flaw in his plan, with every clone that dispelled a puff of white smoke would appear, eventually blocking him, and his clones, from seeing the purple haired woman.

"Everyone! Scatter!"

However, it was too late as suddenly the smoke cleared to reveal the kunoichi astride a massive black snake, her grin maniacal as she turned to where the original had last been and laughed. "Not bad gaki! But it's time for me to show you why I'm a jonin!"

The snake surged forward, its great tail lashing out time and again to dispel the clones in its wake even as she leapt back into the fray, helping to clear the flanks of blonds as the snake barreled towards its intended target.

'_Now Naruto, use the plasmids! Hurry! Before all your clones are gone!'_

He felt Shiori's panic through their link and nodded, barking for his clones to scatter he and the other teens let the wind come into play once more, twenty of them making traps all around the massive snake before turning their attention back to the kunoichi, she was looking at one of the little cyclones curiously and sent a kunai at one of them, letting out a yelp of surprise as it blew itself out, sending her knife to the heavens. Looking back at her summon in fear she saw what had to be a hundred of the little tornados all around it, one wrong move…

With a grimace she sent out a pulse of chakra to the snake, dispelling it and dropped back to the tree line, plotting her next attack.

The battle had gone back and forth for the better part of two hours, every time one would seem to get an upper hand the other would run off, intent on getting a chance to formulate a plan, only to have the seemingly random nature of the other utterly spoil their cunning plots. Finally the pair just stumbled back into the clearing; they knew there was little point in hiding any longer, better to just get it over with.

Tired blue eyes met hard brown as they settled into their stances once more. "You know…for a little shit you're not half bad."

Though he may be tired he was never one to shy away from a challenge, "And you're pretty decent for a crazy bitch."

Anko's featured hardened once more as she took off like a shot, Naruto, caught unprepared, took her fist full in the face and fell back, using the momentum however he rolled and planted his feet in her stomach and launched the woman into the air, surprised eyes locked on smiling blues as he pulled a brace of shruiken and sent them skyward. Anko's smile grew as the kunai tore into her, much to the blonds' horror, before she seemed to lose her color and fall into clumps of earth before him. His eyes widened in surprise when he felt a pair of hands on his ankles before he was pulled underground, only his head left above the earth.

Looking about the clearing in fear his eyes settled on her as she seemed to simply bloom from the ground, no signs of the long battle anywhere on her person. Smirking she walked forward to tower above him before she knelt down, a kunai coming free to settle against his cheek.

"Say it." Her only answer was a scowl, reaching down she took his jaw firmly in hand, making him look her in the eye, "Say it!"

"Eat me."

She smirked, "Maybe later…Now say it!"

"Fuck you!"

She 'tsked' "Never without dinner. I won, you lost, just get it over with!"

If anything his anger only grew, "Why don't you! You caught me! Now you can finish it!"

She arched an eyebrow at that, "What the hell are you babbling about!?"

Now it was his turn to scoff, "I know you're not dumb, you caught the fox."

That just made her look all the more confused before she got a bit closer and seemed to really notice him for the first time, falling back on her ass in shock as she scrambled a few paces away, "You're the Usumaki brat!?"

If anything he looked all the more confused as she pulled herself back to her crouch. "What, just figured it out? Come on then, you get to be the great hero, killer of the monster, so COME ON!"

Anko dropped to the ground beside him as she pulled her knees to her chest, looking down at the now dirty blond hair. "Kid, what the hell happened, you were just a little guy…"

He growled and tried to get his hands free enough to make a clone, and wasn't having much luck. "Look, it's not something I'm supposed to be talking about with people, so why don't you just let me go, and we can go our separate ways."

She smirked as she rounded on him again, "Not until you say it!"

"SAY WHAT!"

She winced at that before scratching the back of her head in mild embaressment, making the blond smirk at that, "Eheh…I guess I never told you to say 'I'm the best', did I…"

He arched an eyebrow at that, his jaw slightly agape "You're not all there…are you…"

She scowled and flicked the bridge of his nose, "Not the thing to say to the woman who's got your life in her hands."

"Not much of a life…." Her eyes narrowed at that as he let out a sigh, "Fine, you win, you're the best, now get me out of this hole!"

She grinned and leaned in before sticking a finger in her mouth, after a moment she pulled it out and stuck it in his ear, "Wet willie." Running through a few hand signs she grabbed him by his ponytail and gave a sharp tug, pulling him from the ground with a yelp of pain. After a moment of rubbing his ear and mumbled a thanks and moved off to get some lunch before finding another training ground. Several minutes later he wheeled and jabbed a finger into the woman's chest.

"Why the HELL are you following me!"

Anko shrugged, her ever present smirk widening a bit. "Boredom mostly. Are you going to tell me why you were in my forest?"

"Are you going to tell my why your dressing like a hooker?"

It took him a few minutes to pull himself out of the wall.

"Kid, you have a lot to learn about talking to women if you ever want to meet a girl."

"When I meet one I'll let you know…" He grinned and managed to sidestep her punch. "See what I mean…"

She growled as she caught him by the collar and pulled him close, "You'd better think twice about fucking with me, you little shit."

His own scowl seemed out of place with his smile, "What was I thinking, dinner first right? So where to?"

Anko jerked back from the blond as though she had been burned, was he actually playing her game? And WINNING! "J-Just leave me the fuck alone!"

He could feel Shiori pulling at his mind a bit, trying to get him to leave the woman alone, but he was still riding high on his anger and simply tuned her out as he purred. "You were following me hebi-hime."

Naruto felt his blood run cold as Anko looked on him in a mix of fear and revulsion before she simply vanished, a swirl of leaves the only evidence she was there. 'Did I miss something?'

'_Naruto…if you had just listened…I was trying to tell you she was more like you then you know.'_

Moving towards the ramen stand he decided to press further, 'What do you mean Shiori-chan, she's nothing like me.'

'_Ever wonder why you haven't really seen her around? Why the only times you do is when she is bloodied and heading back into the forest?'_ He gave a half shrug at that, at the time he was more concerned with not being found, _'Naruto, I think you scared the hell out of her when you called her bluff, she must use that like you use that idiot façade...'_

His eyes widened at that, He had been called on it once, and had ran like hell from the person, his ojiji…now he had done the same to this woman and smacked his head as he let out a groan. 'Shit…Shiori-chan…what should I do?'

'_I'd go see the old monkey, see what he can tell you about her, then get her something to make up for it.'_

He gave a nod and, deciding to put off his lunch, made for the tower.

* * *

Anko was sitting in one of the tower windows with her knees pulled up to her chest as she glared out at the village, the buildings alight with the brilliant orange flames of a fading sun. It wasn't fair, it wasn't her fault that her sensei had taken those kids, had done those experiments, hell, she was a victim as much as any of them, so why the hell was she blamed…why was she hated…Letting out a tired sigh she moved through the levels of the tower, absently cursing that she had come off so harsh to the boy who had just been sitting outside the fence. He wasn't even looking at the forest and yet she had felt the urge to drive him away, anything to keep that sliver of privacy, then to have it turn out to be the kid…

The Kid.

The one that had the Sandaime's ear, his golden boy…the one he let deface the Hokage monument, hell, some whispered that he had ASKED the boy to do that…

She was screwed…

Coming to the main landing and moving further in, past the arena and the dormitories she came to what looked to be an empty section of wall, one that didn't stay that way. Calling forth a small snake the little reptile moved along the floor into what looked to be a small bit of damaged plaster, a few moments later the wall section receded before moving aside and to show another staircase, one that seemed to vanish into inky blackness.

The violet haired girl let out a heavy sigh as she dismissed her snake and descended into the depths of the tower's underground. Back in the time of the second shinobi war this tower had been a vital post due to its defensible location and commanding view, now it was largely left to languish, save for the few times it had served as the goal for the chunin exams.

Now? It was hers. Or at least she considered it to be. While she had an apartment in town not too far from the central market street, it wasn't home to her. This place had been. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she followed the corridor with practiced easy despite the dark. This had been her home for three years, light was often a luxury here as her mission pay didn't cover power to keep the whole of the tower lit, not for the first time she cursed the fact that the electricians ignored her calls, some because of her past, more because they didn't want to brave the forest.

Channeling a bit of chakra into one of the few E class jutsu she had bothered to learn she conjured a small flame to her fingertips, giving little more light than a match, but it would do. A carefully honed habit of checking all the small antechambers took only a few minutes with some chakra shunted to her nose, making her almost as good as an Inuzuka for a time. It was a trick learned from her friend Hana, and had saved her skin more than a few times. Moving back to the main hall she made her way along to what at one time had been the outpost commander's office.

She'd heavily modified the room, of course, no longer did it have the central stone desk, something that could be used for cover should the need arise, but it was an eyesore, and she needed the room for her bed. While she wouldn't be considered lazy by any of her peers, she did like to take it easy, and one of her favorite pastimes had been simply lounging and reading in the large, four poster bed. She had seen the design in a book when she was younger, and it was one of the few things that her bastard teammates had given her that she had held onto. She was under no illusion why she was given the bed; they were hoping she would invite them over to 'try it out'.

She didn't miss them.

She had heard that one of them had gone on to became a personal tutor for some of the more spoiled villagers, the other had been killed in a spying mission to Kiri, fool had tried to infiltrate the rebel camps when he had been caught by none other than the Demon of the Bloody Mist.

There wasn't much left.

Still, it was a nice bed. One that loved and tended to like a child. The rest of the room was unique, to say the least. On the far wall, opposite of the door, was a large, full length aquarium that had been sectioned out for her snakes, not too far from it was her work table then her desk. The pair of rather shoddy work benches served as the platform from which she had concocted her poisons and anti-venoms that she preferred to use.

Her bed had four nightstands, one at each corner, each holding small lamps, assorted books, scrolls and a few pictures. One of her parents holding her when she was a baby, shortly before their death at Iwa's hands, they were no ninja, just merchants that couldn't afford protection during the war.

She was the result.

Brought up on the perfect dogma of serving your village, protecting the people…

What rubbish.

The day her sensei had gone rogue was the day it all ended for her, her friends, save Hana and Kurenai, all abandoned her. Her former teammates shunned her, her boyfriend at the time left her after one last shot at getting into her pants.

She wasn't the type of girl to EVER let a man 'hit it and quit it' when it came to her and hers. It was one reason she was always talking with Kurenai about Asuma, he was a nice guy and all, but her instincts were telling her to keep a close eye on the man. She may not have had many people in her life, but she would be DAMNED if she let any of them get hurt for the sake of a night of fun. One of the many reasons she was rather discouraged from going with them on 'ladies nights'.

Not that that stopped her.

Taking a moment to shed her coat she tossed it onto her desk before plopping onto the bed, falling back to rest her head on her arms, her mind drifting back to the blond she had encountered. It was odd, there was no denying that. She knew better to react like that, but when she saw him sitting there, channeling that strange chakra like that, she had simply reacted, and was now praying for a light punishment. However she couldn't lie to herself about her odds, she had seen firsthand what would happen to those that wronged the boy, hell, she'd done many of the things herself, being one of the better interrogators of the ANBU T&I center.

Visions of a bloody end were cut short as a brilliant blue light on the wall began to flash, bolting upright the young woman sped through the halls like a shot, the blue light meant only one thing.

Someone had breached her tower.

Using a pillow of chakra to quiet her steps she streaked up the stairs toward the top of the tower, it was the only place that someone could easily get in when she was there, but the single path down into the main structure ensured that whoever was there would be a sitting duck.

Slinking up the last few sets of stairs, drawing on all her knowledge of stealth and tracking she summoned up a set of snakes to lead the way, two quick hand signs and her vision faded somewhat to be replaced with a kaleidoscope of color. She cursed silently at her choice of snake, it always took a minute to get used to heat based vision.

Her mind clearing a bit she was confused to see someone simply standing at in the observation deck, looking back over the village not unlike she had been. The rapidly cooling night gave her a sharp contrast for making out the male who looked to be clutching something to his chest. Taking a moment to stop her technique she peered cautiously around the corner only to have her eyes widen.

It was the blond brat from before…

And, if smell was anything to go by, he had DANGO!

Naruto didn't really know what had happened. All he knew was that one second he was looking at the village in the growing twilight, suddenly he was on the icy stone floor, looking up at a vision of loveliness in fishnet digging through the package he had brought.

'Well…guess I got the right house…'

Shiori simply giggled in the recesses of his mind as he waited a few moments for the girl to notice him and get up.

No dice.

Letting out an annoyed sigh he made a quick clone and substituted himself with it before standing over her, tapping a foot in annoyance. After a squeal of joy echoed though the small room and Naruto now struggling to catch the now tossed aside container she looked up at him, then down at her seat who was grinning up at her, his hands behind his head.

"Don't get up on my account, I'm loving the view."

Anko took a moment to look from blond to blond, then at her own (lack) of dress and growled. Naruto winced as she put a kunai through 'his' groin before his eyes widened in shock.

"Holy hell!"

She looked at him in confusion for a moment before he formed another clone and sent it off into the woods, followed quickly by another who had simple orders.

Hide and seek.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Shushing her for a moment he looked out at the forest intently before his body flinched suddenly and let out a whoop of joy, "Damn! I know what they know!"

She stared at the blond for a solid minuet before laughing aloud at the now pouting boy, "Oh my GOD that's priceless! The only genin I know that can lean an A class jutsu, and you SCREW IT UP!"

"Well excuse me, I didn't have the luxury of time when I was reading the damn thing. Your welcome by the way…and sorry."

She looked at him in confusion for a moment then back at the dumplings, shrugging she popped one of the sticks into her mouth, mumbling around the savory treat, "What for?"

She was more than a little surprised to see sad blue eyes rise to meet hers from their once downcast state. "For anything I said earlier…I didn't mean to hurt your feelings…"

Naruto's unease rose to blind panic as the kunoichi began to choke on a dumpling. A few sharp slaps to her back helped dislodge the wayward food as she took in great lungful of air. "Damnit kid…don't DO that."

"S-Sorry…"

She growled a bit and snatched another stick of dango from the box, "And stop apologizing all the time, you'll make me think you don't mean it. We had a fight, you beat me at my own game, I couldn't take it. Story done."

Pulling his own box from the rather mangled sack he produced a large bowl with a paper seal covering it, a sharp poke from a chopstick caused the paper to go up in a cloud of ash, leaving a bowl of pristine ramen. "Still…I felt bad, figured a bit of food could help make up for it."

She absently waved him off, making him a bit uneasy with the way she was gesturing with the dango stick. "I told ya brat, the story's done."

Taking a moment to absently swirl his noodles he took a steadying breath. "Don't..."

She arched an eyebrow at him, "Don't want?"

Taking a bite of the noodles and using opportunity to sort out his thoughts. "Don't call me that…a person I trust…more than anything…told me we were a lot alike, and I think she was right…so let's make a deal. No games. I'll be around if you need anything…you do the same, alright? No games, no lying…no insults…"

Not for the first time today the blond had knocked her off her game. She fought the urge to lash out at the boy once more, but still, her body was shaking with barely contained rage. This little shit had the gaul to come into her home, and ask _that_. As she was about to lay into him, intent to drive him off again, she caught the look in his eyes, the blue pools making her stop short.

Before, his eyes had looked full of fire, defiance, courage, and not a small amount of cockiness. Now they looked…wrong. Now the stormy blues seemed to only have an emptiness, one she knew too well in her time. Dropping back to the ground limply with the teen she let out a tired sigh, sending a small smile his way and extended her hand.

"Deal"


	4. Chapter 4: Concerns and Questions

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bioshock(2) (And I'm rather certain they didn't own System Shock…didn't stop them from copying it)

A/N: I know, I took my dear sweat time on this one…I blame life. I know this one is a bit short as well, for that I am sorry, but really it's just a bit of filler and minor interactions between folk to help set up the next chapter. Sucky, I know, but I had a purpose for that, and mainly it's that I have had a few people PM me with questions about the plasmids and the fact that I seemed to be making Naruto (In some folks minds) a ranged fighter. One such question was how the bugs are made, and that will be explained when he begins his training with Iruka. Now for the main point, many don't know what Bioshock, or more specifically, plasmids, are. So I'm going to explain a bit here in the beginning. If you don't want to read it, or already know it, jump to the actual chapter title. Now I'm going to do my best not to give away any major spoilers for the games, in case folk want to go play them, and honestly, even if you're not a big fan of shooters (like me) then the story itself and the setting is something I think you would like ^_^

Alrighty, first a bit of back-story here. The world of Bioshock has been called steampunk my many, I don't know how they get that, but in my mind it's more of a 'fifties never ended' kind of place. Bioshock itself takes place in a city known as Rapture. What's unique about this place? It is built on the bottom of the freaking Atlantic.

Yes friends, the whole game you are in an underwater, fifties era, New York styled city.

Now, this city was founded by a man that had grown to hate the way he saw the world turning, where a scientist couldn't actually create anything unless it was carefully regulated, studied and patented to make some kind of profit. Where an artist was censored or hated for what they may create, where a writer would have his or her books burned.

No, he envisioned a city were the work was its own reward. So he built this place, hidden from the world where people that had like minds could come and live, create and prosper simply for the sake of prosperity.

Now, one of the early inventions in this city was a substance known as ADAM (I don't think they ever say what it stands for…but ya) As it is described at one point in Bio2, ADAM is a genetic sludge that is, in essence, the building blocks of all life. With the right tweeking here and there of this substance then you can create a number of effects in a person, effects that can be overwriten or even chosen between naturally in your body. Some of these came to be known as plasmids, others were gene tonics.

The plasmid manifests physically with visible changes and effects to the body (hands) in the game, the stuff is literally injected into you, and after that you just cycle through them like changing weapon in any shooter. In each game the first one you come across is Lightning, letting you shoot out a bolt of electricity at the target to do minor damage and stun them until they are hit again…unless they are standing in water, then it will hit many folk and fry them, not sure why they made it do more damage in that instance in the game, but they did…

Now a gene tonic is something a bit different, these changes are not as obvious, and in terms of the game is really just to customize your play style (Want to be a better hacker? There's a tonic for that…) now in terms of story, this is where things started to go bad for folk. Taking the tonics (and ADAM) in of itself, is like a drug. If you know you are going to play football later on, and want an edge, you take an endurance tonic. But then you have your math test, better pop an intellect one. You can see how it can get out of control. Now, as those of you who have taken biology may know, changing genetic information like that is BAD. In the game people started to mutate wildly, mostly just becoming deformed, but the addiction to ADAM was so great that many went insane, and started attacking others.

Now, to help try and combat these people, one of the projects chief researchers altered some of the cities children, specifically little girls (If they told you why, I don't remember, I need to go back and play the first Bioshock again) These girls ended up being called Little Sisters, and were small enough to squeeze through the cities ventilation systems, their tasks were to gather ADAM from dead enemies (known as Splicers) and return with the samples, in hopes of finding a way to combat the mutations and the addiction. Their bodyguards were modified 'men' known as Bid Daddies, and were originally tasked with repairing and expanding the city, as they were permanently sealed into deep sea diving suites (The OLD spun copper style suites)

Now in terms of game-play, the best way to get ADAM for yourself was to find these Little Sisters, kill the Daddies, and then either save or harvest the Sisters. Harvest and you get more ADAM (and start down the bad story ending) save them for less, but then the Sisters reward you later with gifts for saving them.

In Bio 2 you actually are one of the Big Daddies this time, one of the earlier series of them, they were faster, more intelligent, but had a bad habit of getting to attacked to their Sister's, and if anything happened to them you either A) went mad, B) died, or C) went into a coma until you could be re-united with yours. So they phased your series out. In the game your Sister is taken from you, and your trying to get her back, now ten years later. Now you encounter a new problem. The first Little Sisters are all grown up…and are a PAIN to fight. They are damn strong, fast, and will drain EVE from you (EVE is like mana, it powers your Plasmids) Your Sister is now grown to, but the new head of the city has plans for her, and you have to save her.

Depending on what happens in the game you get one of four endings. Two bad (and frankly, FREAKY) one that is bloody SAD, and one that is good, but still, not that good. The 'good' ending is the one I got on my play through, and is the one I based the story after.

Now in Rapture there are a few times that you step out of the city and have to go building to building through airlocks, while doing this you can find ADAM slugs. In the game's info section they mention that they tried to cultivate ADAM in the slugs, as they are very simple creatures and didn't have much mobility. In my story I had it where Shiori and the other 'Biju' were animals that mainlanders tried to use to farm ADAM…with limited results.

Anyway, the rest is hinted at and will be explained in the actual story (and I don't think I can say more without giving away the game's themselves, if you don't care, PM me and I'll tell you, or go online and read the spoilers, but I don't want to jack up the game for anyone else, so ya…)

* * *

STORY SPOILERS!!! YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED, THEN SKIP!

* * *

Now, in the game there are 10-15 plasmids, and unless you harvest the Sisters your not going to get them all. In my story some of the plasmids will be included, but really I'm not taking many.

Lightning – In- a stun and minor damage 'jutsu' in the game later on it can be an AoE and constant Lightning effect (think Emperor in Star Wars)

Fire (Incinerate in the game) – In- AoE damage, I REALLY want a 'Dance! Sauske! Dance!' moment with fire, as in the first game you just snap your fingers for fire at the target, like Musting in Full Metal. In the game at the highest rank it's like a flamethrower or a fire bomb.

Cyclone Trap – In, you saw it, makes a trap of air and sends things skyward, in the game, at higher ranks, you can put other Plasmid effects into the trap, not only sending them skyward, but causing the other effects as well.

Stinging Swarm – In – In the game they are used to flush out hiden enemies and cause damage over time with poison. It will be the same here. In the game your hand has a hive ripping through the skin and you see rather large (in Bio 2) bees crawling all over your hand. In this one I wanted wasps…mainly because I HATE wasps…freaky little bastards…and MEAN.

Ice – OUT – In the game it is bloody overpowered, causing almost no damage, but freezing the target solid so you can come up and shatter them)

Scout – Out – In the game it let's you scout while keeping safe, that's what shadow clones are for here.

Rage (as I call it, I never got higher ranks, bought it on a whim…) – Out – in the game you hit a target with it to make them go nuts and attack anything, at higher ranks it lets you enslave. I didn't want to step on another character's toes (Ino) with this one, so I left it out.

Control – Out – In the game it let you take over machines, no machines here.

Telekenisis – In – This one, at first, will be used for pranking, later on it will be used for defense, then water and earth manipulation

Hudini (Multiplayer power) – Out – In the game it let you become invisible, I would rather have Iruka train him to be stealthy.

Teleportation - ? – I'm keeping folk in the dark a bit here. In the game you couldn't actually get it, as it randomly ported itself around the map as it was unstable. However it's what a Big Sister can use against you in the let game, does like it sounds a Nightcrawler style flash of purple light and they are there (or not)

Summon Big Sister – In – The last plasmid that you are given in the game, you can summon a Big Sister to aid you in battle, at first this is going to be the only way for Shiori to get out.

Decoy – Out – In the game it put a decoy on the ground so they kill it and not you, again, shadow clones.

There are others, but I never got them in the game, so I'm leaving them out of the listing for now. If you REALLY want to see one I don't want to use, or didn't list, then PM me and let me know. I'm pretty easy going.

Now for the girls! As stated, Shiori is in. In terms of her body she's not some overly buxom girl like some make her out to be, I (she) modeled her body off of your little sister in the game, who is anywhere from sisteen to eighteen, they never really specify. She has a slight build, willowy you may say, something of an hourglass figure, but still in the 'young teen' stage of development, do no freakishly huge, Tsunade style things that are twice the size of her head, I really dislike that in stories. Now in the story Shiori's body is a bit more developed, so maybe a solid C, as the Sister was older when Shiori knew her. Still, not so freakishly over the top.

Anko is in, already had that decided, now for the last part. I put forth the option of either Tayuya or Mei and asked for options in the reviews and PM's, and I got a lot of them, some came with great suggestion as well, as to how to work them in or give them a common background. I'm taking the suggestion from a friend of mine and am going to run with it. However, the issue arose in the fact that my votes came down to a dead, freaking, tie with the two of them. So I will say now, I will have four girls for our hero, something I've never written before…Shiori's made her call, now they are just both getting used to the idea. Groundwork is being laid for Anko, Mei will come in about the time of Wave (not as soon as you may think, as I'm going to go into some of the D ranks to help build Naruto's power up) and Tayuya will probably join around the time of the Chunin exams, rather than later on, with interplay with Kin who I will be having live.

Note, in this story Mei will NOT be the Mizukage, I have other plans for her, and I don't see any of the pairings working if they all have to move to Mist or anything like that, so I took steps ^_^

* * *

END OF STORY SPOILERS, ON WITH THE TALE!

* * *

Rapture is just the Beginning

Chapter 4: Concerns and Questions.

* * *

"I should have stayed in bed….I should have FUCKING stayed in BED!" Naruto dove between a set of downed logs just in time to have a brace of shruiken miss his rear.

"Cry more rookie! Your tears taste like CANDY!" Naruto cursed none to quietly as he jagged behind a tree, leaving a field of cyclone traps in his wake, praying they would slow the woman down enough to let him have a moment to think.

And it had started so innocently too…last night the duo had shared a nice meal, talked about things they enjoyed, really enjoyed, not the foolish bits they claimed to like in order to put people at ease, or in Anko's case, on guard. He had found out that the young woman was a special joinin that enjoyed tea ceremonies, something she would venomously deny if he told anyone, before his slow death in the belly of a snake. She had found out that, contrary to many beliefs, he only liked ramen, but that his favorite food had been rabbit, something he had been introduced to at a young age due more to necessity than anything else. He found out that, indeed, her favorite food was dango, mainly due to the fact that it was the special treat they would get in the orphanage when she was young if they were good, something that had stayed with the woman all her days.

She had discovered that the rumors had indeed been true, that the Hokage had been giving the young man his missions to prank and test his own forces, with somewhat troubling results. She had known that ANBU was a bit lacking, but to be unable to catch an academy student who had just paint bombed your own headquarters, WHILE said student was talking to the guards…not good. He discovered that, while she did find them useful, she absolutely loathed snakes, that her summons only grudgingly obeyed her, and that she preferred to use them simply for venom production, that and the extra scratch she made from selling anti-venom to the hospital.

After their brief chat the two decided that they would make this something of a habit, meeting at her dango shop to talk and in general, be able to hang out without the masks, something she didn't even really get to do even with her best friend Kurenai, as the girl had her own mask to keep up as the 'Ice Queen' of Konoha. As he left he had absently mentioned something about needing to train in the morning, and that had lead to Anko offering to supervise.

He wanted to find the person that invented the phrase 'Sounds good' and commit an unspeakable act on him or her.

Now he was enduring what she had generously called training. Mainly, it consisted of him running for his life while she threw weapon at him and threatened to do things to his manhood that he would rather forget…

However, for all the fear of the moment, he had to admit he was having fun with her, while this wasn't the first time that someone had offered to train him, until Iruka got out of the hospital this was the only person to ever ACTUALLY train him. So despite trying to dive and cover his little buddy every half a second, he was happy, something that Anko seemed to feel as the pair worked. After several long hours a battered and slightly bleeding blond was dragged by one foot over to a nearby tree.

"Not too bad kind, not too bad…I don't think I got a single one of them to stick, now take five then we will pick up the weapons and see about lunch."

Naruto looked up at the sky in surprise to see that, indeed, it was close to noon, something he had failed to notice. His morning had begun some seven hours ago, and it looked like his day was still far from over. Taking time to get his ragged breathing under control he took a swig of water before looking to the woman at his side, "Um…Anko-sensei, yesterday when we fought, what was that thing that I ended up destroying?"

She arched an eyebrow at that, "What, a mud clone? It's something that snake fucker taught me, their pretty useful, while they don't transfer memories like your shadow clones, but they can take a hell of a beating. Every time it looked like you were going to land a good one I substituted myself, and a mild henge made sure you thought you were doing well."

A look of confusion passed over his features, "But if you were that mad at me, then why not just go for the kill?"

She let out mirthless chuckle at that, "My sensei. He always taught us to play with our prey…try and get them to give up information or tire them out to capture, its second nature to me now."

She gave a half-shrug as he nodded then pulled himself to his feet. "Well then, let's go get those weapons of yours; I'm getting hungry…"

With a nod the purple haired woman rises once more before the pair head off into the woods.

* * *

Things had been slow going for Iruka Umino.

He was thankful for that.

After the events of that night he was looking forward to a simple month of barking at Naruto and making his days something he would regret.

Everyone had to have their own little revenges after all.

But for now, while he may hate hospitals, having spent far too much time in them for his taste, he was enjoying it, nothing to do but sit back and think about what he would teach the young genin hopeful. He knew that his abilities could at best be considered limited, but he still felt he had a lot to offer outside of the classroom. While he may have only excelled at stealth and tracking, that, in his mind, is what a ninja really was. Many enjoyed the big, flashy techniques, like summoning or fireballs, but for him, it was the rush of sneaking past the whole of a battalion to kill their general before slipping away once more like a fleeting shadow on a wall.

Yes…that was a ninja.

Summoning had its uses, fireballs to, the list went on. But really, if you are forced into situations where you must go head to head against superior forces like that then you have done something wrong. Either you had been compromised, or you were lacking in skills and needed to train. While he knew that Naruto was top notch in the field of stealth, there was always room to improve. Naruto could hide with the best of them, but the way he was always shocked when he had managed to find him told him where he needed help.

Tracking and sensing, and while he may not have been the best sensor, he had a feeling that Naruto would have a knack for it. After all, you didn't spend that much time running and reading people and NOT develop a good sense of it.

As he was coming up with a unique variation of hide and seek to use the sound of footfalls from outside the room made him perk his ears before he let the feel of the person's chakra wash over him.

He smiled.

Two quick knocks followed by his greeting echoed through the room before the door opened to reveal someone that made Iruka blink a few times in shock, his mouth agape.

"Y-Yomdaime-sama…."

A somewhat deeper-than-normal voice echoed through the room for a moment before the figure strode towards him, that's when he spotted it, the three whisker marks that adorned each cheek. "Close Iruka-sensei, but I'll tell you now, I'm going to be better than my dad ever was!"

It took a moment for what the young man was saying to really sink in; this was the fourth's _son. _"I-I see…Naruto…I don't know how I didn't see it before…"

He laughed again as he sat his little bundle on the bedside table. "Ya, well it's understandable, I did look a lot different, even just a few days ago."

That he did, gone was the little pipsqueak that had been the shortest in the class, now the young man was standing at five foot six, and had put on a surprising amount of muscle from the looks of it. Then again, that old outfit of his did hide his body quite well from others. His current seemed to do the exact opposite, showing just how much the young man had changed inside. "So I take it you won't be hiding your skills anymore then, eh?"

Naruto tilted his head slightly at that, "What do you mean sensei? You told me yourself a ninja is based on deception."

He smirked at that, "True, but I just thought that with such showy clothing that you would be changing is all."

Naruto waved him off as he reached into the box he had brought in and produced a bowl of ramen and passed it to his teacher who took it with a wide grin, this man was the true ramen freak, and Naruto by association, "The way I figure it, if I can hide that well in orange then white will be that much harder. That and I was given all these muscles, may as well show them off a bit. Oh man…Sensei, you should have seen the looks I was getting in town."

For a moment Iruka had to fight off the sense of dread he had felt well up at those words, but seeing Naruto's smiling face allayed his fears a bit. "Oh? What happened?"

Naruto snapped his own chopsticks before gesturing with them, "Girls were _blushing_ at me! I've never had that happen…unless I was raiding their bedrooms or something…"

The chunin choked slightly on his noodles at that, "Naruto…I trust you weren't doing anything…bad, in those rooms were you?"

Naruto shot him a withering glare. "Iruka…what do you take me for?"

He let out a sigh of relief.

"Of course I was doing something bad. What else do you call a paint bomb?"

Now the teacher really was choking, a few sharp raps from Naruto helped clear that up however. He laughed lightly at that before shifting topics, "Well then Naruto, other than ramen runs, what have you been up to?"

He gnawed on a chopstick for a moment before smiling, "Well, I got new clothing and food from the shops, most still haven't figured out it's me but by the time they do I'll be set I think. I figured out the trick to Kage Bushin and have been using it to further my training, I can show you later if you want…I got into a fight with a special jonin and she helped me train this morning. I found out who my dad is, but I'm not really supposed to tell people, so keep it to yourself ok? I still don't know about my mom…but I have scrolls from them in my room…I'm just a little nervous to open them…"

"Wait…what? A fight with a jonin?"

Naruto quickly shoveled down some of the noodles hanging from his mouth. "Like I said, I got in a fight. She said I was too close to her forest, you know, the fenced in one? Well after a fight she followed me for a while, then I kinda pissed her off and she left. I found where she lived later and apologized with, well, food. Then we just talked for a while."

This seemed to catch the young teacher off guard, "Oh? Naruto going after an older woman…what would Sakura think?"

Now it was Iruka's turn to pat the kid on the back, "WHAT!! No way Iruka-sensei, she may be nice and all, but she's no Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan has the beautiful pink hair and amazing eyes and that pretty face…and she's SMART to! _Way _smarter than anyone else. Anko's nice, but also a little scary, her hair's kinda crazy and her eyes kinda remind me of the Hyuga in a way, but she's really strong, and has been helping me with my speed and dodging a lot. Then the-"

Iruka had long since tuned the boy out as he was too busy trying to get his brain up and running again. Naruto Uzumaki…was training…no _befriending _Anko Mitarashi!?

"Iruka-sensei….hello!!! You still in there?"

He shook himself from his stupor before turning serious eyes to his friend, "Naruto, I want you to be careful around Mitarashi-san." At his questioning look he pushed forward, "Did she tell you who her teacher was…what they did?"

Iruka had been many things in his life, some happy, mostly sad moments. But he can honestly say he had only been punched like that once before in his life. Iruka held his throbbing jaw and looked at Naruto in shock as the boy's bangs partially hid his eyes, eyes that were burning with cold fury.

"Iruka-Sensei…you disappoint me."

The chunin looked at the blond in shock, his words were spoken with such a…harshness…he didn't think he's ever heard that from someone before. "Anko-san and I are a lot alike Iruka-sensei…she's been put through hell almost as badly as I have…and that's saying something…" The chunin winced, "All because of what her teacher did…the old man told me all about her when I was asking where she lived…Orochimaru had kidnapped twelve children from the orphanage, killing the matron in the process, with the intent to experiment on them…trying to generate bloodlines or something. Anko was his apprentice at the time, and was found a week later, unconscious with almost no memory of her past, only that her sensei, who was more like a father to her, had abandoned her after doing something to her. She doesn't know if she did anything, but she knows without a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn't have hurt the matron. Since then she has been shunned and sent out constantly on missions she shouldn't be able to complete with her skills. Yet she has come back every time."

Iruka winced at that, he didn't know she had amnesia of the event, it was assumed among her peers that, as the apprentice, she had had a hand in it. "Naruto…I" He was cut off as Naruto pressed on, but one thing beyond that caused the teacher's breath to catch, Naruto had a look that was shockingly serious, one that seemed to hold wisdom and intellect beyond his years.

"It's like with me…Iruka-sensei. She has maybe four people…well five now, that wouldn't treat her like shit. She tries to scare everyone, like she did with me, to protect herself. I don't know if she did it, but I do know that it's in the past. I can't hate her…she's been nothing but nice to me, even when she was attacking me she could have just slit my throat, or left me to the tender mercies of the villagers, but she didn't. She lives alone out in the middle of that forest, her own island fortress…it's a lonely life Iruka…a very lonely life, and I'll be damned if I leave her there alone."

Naruto looked up in surprise at his teacher as he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder, in his eyes was a look of deep pain, one all to familiar to his own, and Anko's, "You don't have to say anymore Naruto…I judged her without knowing her, but I won't do that again, after all, were your teachers right? I can't very well teach you without getting to know her, now can I?"

Naruto gave the man a small smile before the two went back to their cooling noodles, each lost in their own thoughts of life, and the hardships they had already endured, however, one thought beyond those echoed through Iruka's mind. So this was Naruto, without any masks.

* * *

Kurenai's day had started out at a rather low point. Early on while she was trying to get a bit of practice in she'd found her favorite training ground had been staked out by Asuma, the man had been rather…pushy with his hints at a date and was starting to grate on her. A quick shunshin and she was gone, sparing herself from the pains of her smoke allergy. Then came the fact that the little restaurant she liked for brunch had been closed for business, citing the need to host an Akimichi function. Then on the way to her back up restaurant she had gotten one of her bandages snagged on a fruit vendor's cart and very nearly gave the whole of the street a show.

Today sucked.

Deciding that she needed to find someone to vent on the brunette changed course and headed for the dango stand, if there was someone that enjoyed a good bitchfest, it was Anko. After several minuets she stepped gingerly into the shop, it wasn't uncommon for one of her many 'fans' to be here waiting for the off chance that she would come in, luckily Anko tended to drive them back, still, she couldn't be sure, and she had a rep. to maintain.

Casting crimson eyes around the store for a moment she sighted her target and started moving in, only to hear the jonin…humming? Taking a moment to ghost up behind her purple-haired friend she slipped a hand over her eyes only to feel a kunai at her neck. After a tense moment the pair pulled back and Anko shot her a death glare. "Don't DO that!"

She gave a weak laugh as she slipped into a chair next to her friend. "Sorry Anko, I was just trying to have a little fun. What going on, I could have sworn you were…humming…"

The special jonin cursed under her breath as she tore into another dumpling. "You must be losing it Kurenai-chan. Me? Humming? Next you're going to tell me that I'll be made a jonin instructor like you just before I put on a dress and go on a picnic."

The red eyes teacher-to-be let out a rather unladylike snort before flagging down a server and putting in her own order of dumplings. "Ya…that's about as likely to happen as me dating Asuma…"

Anko shuddered at that, the man was a massive closet perv, just like his father.

Not that they would ever say anything…

"So how are things with you? We haven't gotten to talk in like a week."

Now this is what Kurenai was waiting for, she started to weave her own tale, embellishing at all the right points and letting Anko drop her own suggestions for torturous revenge. However she somehow knew that Anko's heart didn't seem to be in it this time, like her mind was somewhere else… "Ok…spill it. First you are humming, I don't care what you say, now you are ignoring a good rant about men…what's going on?"

She gave a half shrug, "I don't know, I guess I was just comparing the guy I met to the ones you and Hana always complain about." Anko gratefully took her newly arrived seconds and was about to take her first skewer when she noticed the frozen form of Kurenai and waved a hand before her face a few times.

'_Fatal error in main system, backups coming online. You have one missed message. Would you like to hear it? Anko Mitarashi has met a man.'_

"…the fuck?"

The sounds of Anko's laughter echoed through the store before Kurenai managed to stomp on her foot, accenting the laughter with a yelp of pain. "Sorry Kurenai, but I don't know that I've _ever_ heard you cuss. Was the idea of me meeting a guy that insane?"

While Kurenai didn't see it, Anko felt a bit hurt at that. It wasn't her fault that everyone hated her because of her teacher, and she thought she was pretty hot, if she said so herself, so why shouldn't she attract someone?

"It is a little…I've seen you sic your snakes on anything with external pluming every time one of them so much as made eyes at you. So who is he?"

Anko had to bite back a giggle as Kurenai shifted gears into 'girl talk' mode, it sometimes shocked her at how quickly she could do that. "It's not really like that, he's…an acquaintance. Met him the other day while he was taking it easy by the forest. Attacked him thinking he was going to go into my territory and we had a fight."

"What, that's it?"

"Yep."

"Na-uh, you're not getting out of that easily, the last person you got into a 'fight' with was Gai when he woke you up from a nap wanting to barrow one of your snakes, what for only Kami knows…but even then the man had a limp for a week and can't help but flinch every time he hears you coming."

Anko had to fight back a giggle at that memory, he had gotten his snake alright…shaking off the memory she pressed forward. "Ya, well Gai didn't try and make up for it later on either, the kid did."

"Wait, kid?"

She nodded before taking a draw of her tea, "Ya, he'll be put on a genin team in a few weeks."

That caught the red-eyed woman off guard. This kid had come back, and had the good grace to apologize? "Really? A kid that I might be teaching is the guy you met…I didn't think you liked them like young…and he braved your apartment?"

She put the age thing out of her head for a moment, Naurto wasn't some kid like the others, but she didn't need to know that yet, more fun to drive her nuts. She leaned back in her chair as she shook her head again, "Wrong, he braved the tower to apologize, even brought me dango, damned if I know how he found out I liked it though…"

Kurenai was struck silent for almost a full minuet at that, "Wait…you said he's not even a genin yet!?"

She shrugged, "Ya, so?"

"Then how the hell did he get through the Forest of Death!?"

Now it was Anko's turn to stiffen. Just how DID he get there…on a good day it would take three days to get there from the outskirts, unless he knew the body flicker technique…but she knew for a fact that he didn't, one of the first things she had made him do that morning was show her all the techniques he knew, that was not among them…

Well, it looks like Anko had her topic the next time the two got to talk.


	5. Chapter 5: A Night to Remember

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bioshock (2)

A/N: Sorry about the lag here, was caught up working, firstly, on that challenge fic of mind, Light's Last Gasp, second prepping my army for a tournament I had on Saturday.

I didn't do to well…I think we came in eight of twelve…we just fought the wrong guys most times, and in the last round we were slow-played by an Imperial Guard/Space Ork team. Only two transports, and their army was one-hundred and thirty-three models…it sucked. I think we would have won if they didn't do that…

I would have had this up earlier today, but realized I hadn't done my taxes yet…oops.

But anyway, fic be here, no real fights here, just some Anko stuff and explaining how Naruto got to the forest, and some more training. Next chapter will be the team placements and the genin test. I've said it before, I'm actually going to go into some of the D ranks, just to give them more time in Leaf and build on stuff with Anko more. Just to let you know. It will still largely be canon until the Wave arch, then you will get the next girl in out little group ^_^

Anyway, hope you like it. I'm still wanting to do the variation of Light's Last Gasp (Recycling the first bit of the chapter) and let him find a hollow mask, and, in true Mask fashion (The old comics) putting it on will have…repercussions ^_^ It won't be a Bleach cross, those got old for me a while ago, but I do love Harribel, and Naruto cutting Mizuki in half with a Wide Cero…fun ^_^

* * *

Rapture is Just the Beginning

Chapter 5: A Night to Remember

* * *

The past two weeks had been…interesting for Naruto, to say the least. Not two days after their lunch Iruka had been released from the hospital to begin what he had called training. Really, it was nothing more than a series of glorified hide and seek games. Something that he had initially laughed at, until he was made 'it' for the first time, and spent the rest of the day searching for his sensei, only to find him sitting on a stump in the middle of a cleared field.

Now he knew how the ANBU felt when he led them on their merry chases…advanced healing did nothing for a bruised ego…

Apparently, according to Iruka, he was quite easy to keep ahead of, primarily because of his massive levels of chakra that he had yet to learn to suppress. He explained to him that the only true way to accomplish this was through careful meditation, searching one's own mind, body and sould for what he had called 'his chakra heart'. According to him it was the central core and generator for ones chakra, and when new chakra was created it would often pulse, something that others could feel if they were attuned to the sensations properly. So in addition to the new 'games' he was forced to play, he was told that he would have to be sitting in one place for hours on end until he could feel the core, the pulses, and find a way to mute them, something, he said, that was different for every person.

And he thought the lectures were bad.

To add further insult to injury, it seems that Anko had decided to abandon their little talks and training sessions the very day that he had gone to visit Iruka. At first he didn't think much of it, she was a special jonin after all, he couldn't expect her to spend every day with him, he didn't even blame her for up and vanishing without a trace, assuming that she was out on a mission. What did hurt though was when he had spotted her in the little dango stand she frequented only to have her glare at him before she vanished in a puff of smoke.

Now Naruto was sitting on the same stump that he had initially met Anko on trying work on his chakra control, something that Iruka had been adamant about from day one, right now he was sitting cross-legged, a series of leaves stuck to his body while his clones were scattered among the clearing doing the same with blades of grass. He had learned his lesson that day, don't go into the Forest of Death without permission, and while Anko may have suddenly come to hate him, he wasn't about to do anything that may set her off again. Strange powers or not, she could still beat him like he owed her money.

Speaking of his clones and their abilities, he had learned the hard way not to let the clones disperse all at once, first of all, second, they were never, NEVER allowed to do their own thing. He had learned that each of them would have slightly different quirks, shards of his personality that would somehow intensify when manifested in a clone. Like a child when their parents were no longer around, they would start to test the limits of the rules, as it were.

That first day it hadn't been too bad, they were given specific tasks that had taken most of their time, and their chakra, to accomplish before they dispelled. Naruto, at the time, had been asleep, and therefore didn't have to worry as much about the blowback, though he would say that his dreams were…strange that night, something about the blond in his class having latched onto his arm while he was in the bookstore and hitting him with a barrage of questions. Worse still, apparently his attempts to get away from her were seen as 'playing hard to get' or 'just being shy' and only spurred her to further action.

He hoped it was just a dream. However, on some level he knew better.

Tenten had been little better, sending him strange looks every time he had dropped by to talk and to check on his little project. Apparently, according to Tenten, the blades were coming along well, and would be ready in time for him to go back to class, something that actually irked him a bit, he had wanted a chance to practice with them before team placements. However, it was when he was with her that one of his clones had been forcibly dispelled while it was trying to emulate another ninja who was walking up a tree that he realized some of the true potential of his jutsu.

Much to Tenten's surprise he dashed out behind their forge and created a few dozen clones and set them to work trying the exercise again, something that Tenten laughed at at first before telling him some of the tricks of the tree walking exercise. He was grateful to her, that was a given, however it was a little…disturbing to see his little sis eyeing the clones like that…he knew that look, it was one like Sakura-chan would give Sauske…one he was more than a little sad to never have her direct at him.

Shaking himself the blond looked inward, seeking out Shiori for a bit more work on his plasmids. That was something that, while slow going, had been more than a little fun for him, I mean who wouldn't enjoy throwing cyclones all over a field to trap opponents, something that his sensei had learned the hard way one of the few times Naruto had been able to catch him off guard. The former ANBU had never gotten caught in the winds, having seen firsthand how Mizuki had been affected, but it still made it harder on him. Iruka would never say it, but he needed these workouts as much as Naruto did. While Naruto had much to learn, Iruka needed to _hone._

Slowly Naruto felt his mind clear before opening his eyes to reveal the now familiar sewer that would lead him to his Shiori-chan. She wouldn't let him call her anything else, much to his surprise. She had apparently been utterly serious when she had told him that he would be her mate, and didn't let a moment pass without reminding him of it in some way. Not that it really bothered him, while they had yet to be able to get truly close because of the cage they were content with just spending time with each other while she lectured him on the uses of his existing plasmids, or when they would discuss the escapades of his clones, something she seemed to enjoy to no end, especially when a few of them decided to henge themselves back into his old looks and continue his pranking spree.

"Shiori-chan? Are you awake?"

His questions was answered by a loud giggle, there he saw Shiori, sitting in the same over-stuffed chair that had formed that night, something he hadn't been able to do again, much to their mutual annoyance, watching what looked to be several screens that showed what his clones were doing at that moment. Her ears perked up and swiveled his direction before she turned to give him a soft smile.

"_Dear one, what brings you here at this hour? We normally speak when you are nearing sleep, is everything alright?"_ she shot the screens another glance to make sure she hadn't missed anything, just in time to see a clone dodge behind a fruit stand as a girl with pale blond hair dashed past, making the fox-girl giggle once more.

"No Shiori-chan, nothing's wrong, I just thought we could talk while I worked on the chakra exercises. Have you made any progress with getting around the seal?

Her shoulders seemed to slump at that as she pouted, _"Not as of yet Naruto-kun, your father was a genius when it came to seal arts, and right now there is simply not enough information on the seal to find what we seek." _She saw his own rather depressed look before she rose and moved to the bars of the cage, reaching a hand through to take his and give it a comforting squeeze, _"Don't worry my love, every time we try we learn a bit more, we will find a way, in time."_

He gave a hesitant nod before leaning against the bars much like she was, his arms coming to snake around her waist and earning him a purr of contentment. "I know…I know, it's just…it's not fair to you…I want to get you out of here, so you don't have to just watch those dumb clones all the time."

Again she let out a musical titter, _"Oh, don't worry about me koi, your clones are surprisingly entertaining. You were napping in the field when one of your copies stumbled into the hot springs…I don't know what shocked the girls more, your presence, or the fact that you popped when they punched you…"_

Naruto let out a groan at that, he thought it was another weird dream…that settled it; he was dispelling the stupid things when he decided to sleep. Without his constant mental commands they just seemed to find themselves in more and more trouble, and in the process they were giving him something of a reputation around town. Some saw him as a mysterious shinobi, others as a pervert, and more still as a good samaritan.

Chuckling at his own inner thoughts she decided it was time to change the subject to something she knew had been bothering him, _"Naruto-kun…why don't you ever talk about that Anko woman…the two of you seemed to get along rather well."_

He let out a sigh as he dropped back into the chair on his side of the bars, "Really Shiori-chan, I thought that would be obvious…I don't talk about her because I will likely never see her again. Why do you ask?"

She gave a half shrug, _"To be honest? I rather liked her. She was strong, and seemed to have much the same pain as you. Why haven't you been to talk to her, seeing as you know where she lives."_

He gave a half shrug, "You don't think that would be a bit much? She might think I'm some kind of stalker, following her out to her house and all."

The fox-girl smirked at that, _"You wouldn't be following her, silly, you would simply be dropping in on a friend."_

He seemed to think for a bit before shaking his head, "No…you know as well as I do that she goes to the tower to get away from people, I wouldn't want someone, even Iruka-sensei, to follow me to one of my little hide-holes, no, I think if anything I should go to that apparent jiji told us about, then go from there."

She seemed to think for a time before nodding, _"For once I agree Naruto-kun, it seems our little lessons have not fallen on deaf ears…"_

While he could hear the smile in her voice he still puffed out his cheeks a bit, wishing to play a bit himself, "You know I'll always listen when you speak Shiori-chan. Anyway, I'll let you get back to your shows, wouldn't want you to miss anything."

She giggled again before they exchanged another hug, and she darted in for a kiss on the cheek, _"Don't be a stranger now."_

He gave her one of his fox-like smirks, "I'd never dream of it." With a last wave to his dream girl he faded once more, leaving the 'demon' to her own thoughts, thoughts centered around a certain purple haired jonin, and why she had been avoiding her mate.

* * *

Anko let out a contented sigh as the cool liquor slid past her lips to blaze a path down her throat, it had been a rough day for her, thirteen interrogations, all of them putting up resistance and forcing her to use some of her more…creative venoms.

Now she was going to have to milk her snakes again to make more…she didn't relish the thought.

The pub this night had been her escape, and she was well on her way to making sure she would be late to the office the next day, not that Ibiki would mind, he himself would do the same after the kind of day she just had. As she was about to sit her drink down she felt the hairs on her neck rise a bit and cursed, that meant only one thing…

"Pardon me miss, I was hoping I could buy you a drink?" She didn't so much as spare the man a glance as she raised her glass, showing that she had one. The unknown man gave something of a nervous chuckle, "…Or maybe reimburse you for the one you have?"

She had to bite back a chuckle at that, that was a pretty good one… "Look pal, I'm not really interested, I'm sure there are other's you'll have better luck with, so…" She made a 'shooing' motion. Anko had to bite her tongue to keep from chewing the man out as he settled into the seat next to her.

"Actually, I think you may be a bit mistaken as to why I wanted to get you that drink, I'm only interested in talking."

She normally wasn't one to grind her teeth, but when a guy didn't take the hint? Oh ya, she would need a bit to keep from grinding her molars flat...She put the glass down none-too-gently and cursed as her liquor sloshed her had, after shaking the droplets from her fingers she shot the man a glare only to have her eyes widen in surprise, she knew that scar anywhere. "Iruka? What the hell are you doing here? Isn't it a school night?"

He smirked a bit at her ribbing before signaling to the bartender and pointing to Anko's drink before showing two fingers and grinning. "Normally yes but, as I thought you knew, classes are out right now pending team placements."

She tilted her head slightly at that before nodding, "Oh ya…I remember the Hokage telling me something about that, that I would have a shot at taking a team if I really wanted…"

Iruka's free hand discreetly pinched his thigh to keep from scowling; he was on a mission tonight, "Oh, and are you?"

She gave a half shrug as she polished off her drink, just in time to get the new one, one that Iruka just seemed to nurse for a moment, "I don't know, could be fun to pass on all my little tricks…What do you think."

He arched an eyebrow at her, he wasn't expecting that from the woman, "Honestly?" She nodded, making him take a deep draw from his drink, only to cough and sputter before putting it down, setting off a chorus of laughter around him, what the hell was this woman drinking!?"

Anko had her head down on her arms, resting her upper body on the bar, inadvertently giving the young teacher a rather good look at her impressive assets. "Oh Kami! That was classic! I knew you were a lightweight, but to choke on the stuff!?"

He scowled a bit before, in defiance, he took the drink and polished the large glass off in one go, making the woman let out a low whistle, despite his earlier reaction she didn't see him so much as wobble, not even Ibiki could slam that swill in one go like that. "You wanted my opinion. Right." Part of her shuddered at that, sharply reminded that the man before her was a former ANBU, and judging from his tone, that wasn't a question. She gave a hesitant nod to him, now unsure if she really wanted it or not… "Don't. You're not ready." She winced at that before turning back to her drink.

Way to sugarcoat it buddy…

He pushed the glass back closer to the bartender before slamming the cash onto the wooden surface as he mumbled to himself. While it was soft, Anko picked it up; long hours listening for half whispered confessions had made her an expert on picking up what others didn't want to have heard.

"And I doubt you every will be…if you treat a student like that."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as a hand lashed out of its own volition, catching the teacher by his chunin vest before spinning him around and slamming him against the bar top, "And what the FUCK is that supposed to mean!"

If Iruka had been intimidated by the action, he didn't show it, "You know what I mean, now let go, Mitarashi-san."

Anko scowled, slightly thrown off her game by the man's lack of fear, "No, I don't think I do, explain it to me, CHUNIN."

His own scowl met hers as she spat out his rank as though it were spoiled milk. "You have a student, one you have ignored for the last two weeks, if my information is correct."

Her grip lessened a bit at that as a look of confusion passed over her features, "Student, what student?"

Before she could so much as blink she felt the wind leave her lungs as their positions were reversed so fast it had her head spinning, His face dangerously close to hers as he took her coat's collar into callused hands, "Naruto Uzumaki! You shortsighted bitch!"

While she may have been caught off guard she wasn't a special jonin for nothing and quickly slipped out of his grasp before dancing back, the other bar patrons forgotten as they were quick to back away. When Anko tended to get in fights people had a bad habit of being sucked in, the bar's owner had seen it a hundred times before, "HEY! If you're going to fight then take it outside! You know the rules here Anko!"

She scowled as she leveled an accusing finger at the chunin, "HE STARTED IT!"

"AND I'M FINISHING IT! If you ever want to drink here again LEAVE!"

"But-I-He-IT WAS HIM!"

The barkeep's roar drove over half of the bar into the streets that night.

The unlikely pair stood panting just outside of the bar panting for the sudden, oppressive levels of chakra in the air generated by Third-War-veteran-turned-bartender. The pair took a moment to get their breath under control before their fight came back to them, their glares almost arching like lightning between the two.

"Alright you crotch stain! What the FUCK were you babbling about? I never said I'd train that lying little shit!"

If anything Iruka's anger seemed to grow, "And what gives you the right to call him a liar! You don't even know him."

Despite her anger she knew better than to let herself blurt out something that would only let him build his case. If she told him just how much she knew about the brat then he could use it against her, "Your right, because the gaki lied to me from the first second I met him!"

"HOW! What did he say to you that makes you think he did something wrong?"

"HE SAID HE WAS A GENIN!"

Of all the things that he had expected her to say, of all the things he could have done, it was his rank?! Apparently his look of shock wasn't lost to her, the sheer level of his surprise seeming to diffuse their anger a bit. "You…think he was lying…about being a genin…"

"Well…ya…he made it into the middle of the Forest of Death in less than a day, you can only do that if you know the Body Flicker technique."

Anko had to flinch slightly at the vein that started to throb on the teacher's forehead. "And you never considered asking him, or even ME, his TEACHER, how he may have done it…do you know what his nickname is among those that see him as a normal kid?" She gave a half shrug, earning her an exasperated sigh, "He's the village's number one unpredictable ninja. So tell me, JONIN, given his skills, how do you think he did it?"

The purple-haired kunoichi's eyes narrowed as he threw her rank back at her much as she had done. "If I knew that then we wouldn't BE here, now would we?"

"I'll give you a hint…what is the technique that is unique to him?"

"Well, the Kage Bushin no Jutsu…"

"And what is one of the basic, required techniques to graduate the academy?"

"Well the base clone, transformation and the substitution tech-"

"Now you have your information. Put it together…"

"DAMN YOU IRUKA, IF I WANTED REMEDIAL CLASSES I WOULD GO WITH ALL THOSE SNOT-NOSED LITTLE SHITS!"

To her surprise the young teacher laughed long and loud, "Well, if you had PAIED ATTENTION the first time around then you would have figured it out!" To her surprise the teacher made a familiar cross shaped hand-sign before four copies of him appeared around her. At once she dropped into the Hebi style, prepared to fight off the former ANBU before they spaced out, two jumping to the roof of the bar. "Now, little girl, class is in session." At once the clones began snapping through hand-signs, each one, including himself, offsetting the series slightly. To her surprise she felt the chakra flare, then make a tunnel of sorts, the chakra pulling the chunin and swapping him with one of the clone, before it chained to another clone, then another, until the teacher had been swapped with each clone, ending up on the top of the bar's sign, balancing on the tip of the blade that made up the sign to The Kunoichi's Nodachi. "Have we learned anything?"

Anko's mouth hung limply as she stared at the man above her. The combo was so simple…yet she never would have thought to try it, the snake bastard had showed her team how to use the Shunshin as soon as they had the chakra reserves for it, so it had never even occurred to her to try anything like this.

It was crude, inefficient, and yet, only a kid could ever think to use it to get around like that. "B-But…it would still have taken the clones days to reach the middle of th-"

Again, the teacher surprised her, three of his clones ran to another that quickly cupped it's hands and in quick succession sent the three skyward, as the first reached the top of his climb it was grabbed by the second who quickly spun in mid air and sent the clone sailing deeper into the city before doing the same with its brother. While she couldn't see the first land she could imagine what had happened, another vault to head even further.

Now she felt like a fool.

A fool who had, in essence, betrayed the young man who had been nothing but nice to her, and who had wanted to be her friend.

"I…I'm sorry…Iruka."

The scared man landed silently next to her, startling her slightly, "Anko…I'm not the one you have to talk to…"

* * *

The final week of Naruto's training had to be some of the best he had received in his life, is he didn't say so himself, not only did he have two incredible teachers helping him get to the level that so many of the others had taken for granted, be it in basic academics, or the shinobi arts, he was ready, he thought, for anything that could get thrown his way.

First, with the use of his clones, he had been steadily moving through a large section of the library, taking on every that was eluded to from his initial run after his…changes…

Second his chakra control had been steadily growing, now he could create quite the number of duplicates, however, it was his wasps that showed the greatest improvements, with the increased control, and the understanding of how his 'hives' had begun to work. Apparently, according to Shiori, the 'hives' act similar to a mold, if he sent chakra into them, they would produce chakra constructs not unlike his clones, the simple mind of an insect let him control massive numbers of them with a central will, unlike his clones that took on his personality, but still required his orders to know their purpose.

He was hoping that he would eventually find a way to relay his clones orders without having to talk to, or see them, but for now, no dice.

One of the things that made this last week so much better than the previous two was the simple fact that Anko had returned to their little sessions, spurred on by Iruka's lesson, as well as the fact that when she had swung by her apartment to get her mail she had found the young man leaving, apparently having tried to come visit her and hash things out.

It was a rather enlightening night for the duo, and Naruto came out of it with one thing for certain.

He was going to kick Kurenai's ass.

If he ever met her…

Or found out what she looked like…

In his mind, she had tried to turn his friend against him, something that Shiori somewhat agreed with, as she had instilled the doubt and allowed it to fester. While it may not have been attention, she had told him, the damage had been done.

With Anko came a great deal of the unique knowledge that she had gained in her assassination missions, the useful, if hated, knowledge from her mentor, as well as the knowledge of how to handle summons and their various jutsu.

The training for that week had been pure hell…Anko, wishing to make up for lost time, had created a dozen clones, as had Iruka, and made him send groups off with them to learn potential combos and various uses for the jutsu and plasmids he possessed. However, beyond it all, he thought the most useful lesson had been accidental. He, during one of his spars with Iruka, who had been trying to get him to get the basics of the academy style down before Anko would take over, had overcharged one of his clones, in hope of making one that may survive a few hits and allow him to fool his teacher before setting up an ambush with his swarms.

The theory was perfect, the execution…not so much.

Instead of the chakra re-enforcing the outer shell, what was needed to keep them intact, it just built up and waited in the internal. The results were…

Explosive.

When Iruka ad made a low, slow foot sweep, he had expected the clone to hop into the air, letting him follow up with a simple side kick, trying to show him the basics of how to counter different reactions to attacks. Instead he caught the clone behind the kneed and sent it crashing to the ground. Immediately Irkua moved into a forward roll, letting the heel of his foot come down on the face of the clone.

Iruka wasn't going to look to good for team assignments…

The blast had propelled the chunin into the air almost twenty feet, Anko's comments were less than helpful, though she did point out that it was as powerful as about two and a half explosive tags…

Still, he wondered at what she meant when she suddenly, in a sing-song voice, said 'So long, and thanks for all the fish.'

He found out, after bandaging up his father figure, that he had inadvertently recreated the Bunshin Daibakuha, another A ranked technique that, if he had packed more punch to it, can kill a melee attacker quite easily. They had also sat him down and explained that, while his idea for improving the clone was good, it was the inherent balance of the technique. Shadows simply couldn't become hard enough without some form of innate affinity, like the Nara clan possessed, so it would be impossible for him to make a Kage Bushin that could take more hits. The balance of it lay in the fact that other clones wouldn't relay their knowledge to the user. So while the shadow clones were not to useful, to most ninja, for combat, they were invaluable for scouting and recon. Not to mention that the great clone explosion simply couldn't be used with other clones, giving him an ace in some situations.

Naruto's rather evil grin, gave the pair pause…the shudder going up their spines didn't help much…

When asked, if anything, his grin widened, "Tell you what…when I take my REAL genin test…I'll let you watch…"

Iruka's eyes widened even as Anko winced, the chunin rounding on her with narrowed eyes. She held up her hands to try and ward him off but it did little good, that day, for the second time in her life, Anko Mitarashi, had been chewed out.

Shiori's laughter was the perfect lullaby for the blond, the ideal thing that allowed him his rest that night, as he had been more than a bit nervous about the next day.

Team Assignments.


	6. Chapter 6: Secrets reveled

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bioshock(2)

A/N: I got a lot of comments like 'That was a weird chapter' from folk, really I was just wanting to show how someone thinking outside of the box with their techniques could still accomplish what they were after (In this case fast movement) with unorthodox means. Naruto creating clones and substituting with them is a prime example.

That or it could have been the 'so long, and thanks for all the fish' crack, for those that got it, yay ^_^ You are geeky enough to ride this ride, for those that didn't, it's a line from one of my favorite books, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It's the last words that the dolphins had for humans when they left our planet ^_^ Iruka, meaning dolphin, and being sent into the air with an exploding clone, classic ^_^

The next tale I'm likely to work on (well, chapter) is Shards again, until I finalize what to do with Journeys (I'm not dropping it, I just wrote myself into doing a chapter I didn't want to do…) I'll be jumping back and forth between this and Shards, maybe a smattering of Light, or if I get the urge a new tale, but that's less than likely, as I have enough on my plate ATM.

Oh, and I had some fun with Ino here in the beginning, I know I kinda went wild with the whole 'fan girl' thing, but really, I found it a good gag, and I promised to go into some of the clone stuff that Naruto had been having to deal with, so there it is.

* * *

Rapture is just the Beginning

Chapter 6: Secrets Reveled

* * *

For the last few weeks one Ino Yamanaka had been at her wits end.

The reason for her distress was simple enough. There was someone new in town.

A very handsome, tall, strong, handsome, shinobi with good fashion sense who had the body of a god.

The fact he was good looking was a definitely plus.

Not that she was obsessed with looks or anything…

…Never…

This man had seemingly come from nowhere one day almost a month ago to take the town by storm. He had apparently been buying up supplies by the wagon full before moving on to the library only to seemingly vanish from the public eye. She herself had encountered him in the bookstore shortly after his apparent appearance and was frozen in place by what he was doing.

He was looking at gardening books!

No man like that liked to _garden_! It was unheard of! Unthinkable!

She had to have him.

Sauske, for the first time in her long memory, had just been ousted.

However, when she had approached him all he did was give her something of a nervous smile before giving a half wave and heading to the counter, not paying her so much as a second glance.

Well she couldn't have that.

When she had hit the street she managed to spot the long, blond ponytail hopping from rooftop to rooftop and quickly dashed down the street to follow.

Not that she was going to stalk him.

She just wanted to follow him without anyone else noticing for as long as she could so that she could learn everything about him and make him hers.

Nope…not stalking at all…

Days passed for the young blond and much to her cringe she had seen the older man meeting with what was considered to be the bane of every student in the academy's existence.

Naruto Uzumaki.

The event in question had been about a week after her initial encounter with the man, she had seen him almost literally running into the shrimp outside of the little ramen stand that Naruto was known to frequent and thought that she was going to be in for a show, that the man would simply brush the boy off or berate him as she had seen any of the other adults or older teens do, but to her surprise they had danced around each other to avoid the impact and entered sloppy fighting stances before grinning in startlingly similar fashions, wave at one another and part.

Looking back, they could have been brothers.

But that was silly, Naruto didn't have any family, he was an orphan. Hell, most people in the village couldn't stand to be around him for more than a minute, surely any family he _would_ have had would have ditched him years ago.

Nope, it had to be that the mysterious stranger was just so kind hearted that he would be nice to anyone, even the dead last failure of the village.

That had to be it.

In the next week she had gotten some interesting rumors, that the teen had been seen a few times with some of the jonin of the village, including her own teacher Iruka-sensei. Apparently the two had been training rather extensively in some of the various grounds to the point of exhaustion in some cases before parting or occasionally heading to the ramen stand. She started making it a habit each day to make a circuit of the training grounds each day in an attempt to catch the pair at work.

She had to admit, in her younger days she had given the odd glance at her scared teacher, why, if it wasn't for his abysmal hairstyle and his choice of clothing she may have had a storybook crush on her teacher, but his insistence on looking like Shikimaru had put that out of her mind almost at once…thought, when she looks back, maybe Shika started wearing his hair like that for a reason…

Naaaa….

She had found the duo on her second day of searching and was surprised to see the pair, of all things, playing hide and seek. She remembered the days of her tender youth when she would do the same with all the local kids, before she had met her now rival in love Sakura, but if anything it looked as though these two were taking it almost deadly serious, kunai and shruiken coming into play every time one would happen on the other as they made mad flights back to safe points or to slink back into the shadows in order to keep the chase going.

This is where she got yet another surprise; the blond had apparently been able to make _solid_ clones!

Oh! Praise Kami her new man was at _least_ a chunin!

Daddy would be so proud!

As she watched she saw how the blond would be easily outmaneuvered by the older man only for the chunin to come up short as the blond vanished in a puff of smoke, the battle drifting back and forth not unlike the tides before they would call it quits on their 'game' and start in another area, be it chakra control, taijutsu or practice with throwing weapons. It was strange, it was almost as though her teacher were training the man, but that couldn't be, she knew for a fact that only those that were at least a genin would start learning the solid clone techniques, and even then they could normally make only one, she had seen the teen make at least twenty in a single go!

So what the hell was going on?

Deciding that she had to know she waited in ambush one day for her fellow blond and when he had ducked between a set of stores she pounced.

And oh, how it all went wrong…

She had made to leap onto the blonds' back to hang from his shoulders as she had done with her father and, occasionally, Sauske, but the reaction she had gotten from the teen was the last thing she expected. In a moment that had her head spinning and her hair blinding her he had gone into a forward roll, taking her with him and grinding her painfully into the cobblestone street before he leapt back to his feet and wheeled, kunai in one hand and, strangely, his left encased in wind, his eyes wild as he looked about for other would be attackers before looking down at her and scowling.

The look was so cold that it made her shiver; his ocean blue eyes meeting her sky blue's, the normally warm eyes when he looked at Iruka were cold and dead things, promising pain and suffering.

"What do you want Yamanaka-san."

Fighting the chill that was trying to crawl its way up her spine she rose slightly to a crouch, wincing a bit due to the pain dancing through her from her unexpected fall. "I-I was just trying to surprise you…I wanted to get to know you better…."

If anything he looked a bit colder at her, "Strange, do you make it a habit to jump on utter strangers as part of your 'attempts'?"

"W-well no…"

"Do you make it a habit to jump on strangers who also happen to be _ninja_? Does that seem wise?"

That gave her pause. She knew better than to try that with someone like her father's coworker, the man with all the scars on his head from I&T. "N-No."

"Then tell me, Yamanaka-san, what would possess you to try that with me."

She adverted her eyes from the teen, trying to save a bit of her dignity after he had so thoroughly put her in her place, "I…I don't know, I thought most guys would like a pretty girl jumping on them."

She had meant it to be a joke, but the heavy frown that now adorned his chiseled features made her shrink back a bit. Seeing her pull back in fear seemed to make him deflate a bit, a heavy sigh coming from him as he returned his kunai to its holster. "You've known me for a long time Ino…yet you don't actually know me at all…do you?"

Her head cocked slightly as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard, she knew him? There was no way! She would have remembered someone like him being around the village. However, before she could search her memories further the blond had turned on his heel and had tried to leave.

She had moved before she herself had even realized it, trying to catch the enigma before he could make good his escape.

That was her downfall.

She hadn't checked her momentum properly, and he had been tired from a long day of training. The result being him being caught unprepared as she had made another tackle of sorts and sent him careening into a wall…

…right through it...

…into the women's hot spring.

The pair came up sputtering only to both freeze and give a slow turn, the feeling of dread almost palpable as they came face to…well…breast with the current residents of the spring.

The gathered women were looking down at the blonds in shock that was quickly being replaced with rage, they could see that one was rather clearly a male, but they were somewhat thrown off by the fact that he looked to be just as mad as they were as he glared daggers at the girl who had fallen in with him, "Now look what you did you blond ditz!"

Her surprise at the whole situation was quickly replaced by the righteous fury that all the Yamanaka women were known for, "Blond ditz? BLOND DITZ! Think genius! You're blond to!"

"Ya! But I'm not a _ditz_!"

"Ya, well I'm not the one about to get beat, now am I?"

"If there were any justice in the world, yes! I'm only going to get murdered because my plumbing's on the outside!"

That seemed to give all involved a pause, they hadn't thought of that one before. Apparently it wasn't his fault, the girl wasn't bothering to deny it, and the male wasn't looking, he had only gotten one eyeful before rounding and starting the fight with the girl.

Not that that was going to save him, but it did give them pause.

"Oh please! Women aren't so quick to judge!"

The slack-jawed, cockeyed look the man gave her almost made her break out laughing, he raised one hand and pointed behind him to the women who were standing with towels covering their forms, "Ladies, who is about to die here?"

Three clearly female voices came back, "You!"

"Right, and what will you do to her, who tackled me into here?"

Two of the women glanced at one another in thought, but the third had no such qualms, "I'll probably get her a towel."

"The defense rests. Judgmental pricks who covet a double standard."

The wave of doom washing over him would have been enough to kill a lesser man. "THAT'S IT!"

The teen turned, his eyes firmly squeezed shut as he stood bolt upright and saluted, "I REGRET NOTHING!"

Ino winced as the fists and feet impacted him, two kicks to the groin and one solid haymaker to the jaw. However, to their mutual shock the young man had simply stood and taken the hits, not so much as cringing as he was lifted two feet into the air from the kicks.

Only to vanish in a puff of smoke.

Across town, one Naruto Uzumaki sat bolt upright from his nap in the training field with a squawk of pain, absently curling into a ball as he remembered the blows to his…tender areas. "T-That's it…no more octopus ramen before naps…"

* * *

Naruto made his way to the Hokage Tower, knowing from experience that on important days like this that the Hokage would already be at the office, intent in making a good start and double-checking all his work in forming the teams, in this instance, so that things would go smoothly.

The blond had just entered the office, stopping for once to announce himself before he grinned at the old man behind his desk. "Morning old man! How goes it?"

He gave a slight shrug and a chuckle, "It goes Naruto, it goes. Now to what do I owe the pleasure this morning?"

He gave a half grin as a hand came back to scratch at his head, "Um…well…I was wondering, how were we going to swing this?"

"Swing this?"

"You know…" He gestured to himself, making the Hokage stare at him in a moment in confusion before it dawned on him.

"Ah…yes…your sudden change…I suppose the easiest way would simply to remain under your henge, then once you are put on team I will have the jonin order that your squad dispel any illusions they may have in place, as to why you are wearing it, say it was an order from me, due to your resemblance to the fourth."

Naruto simply stared at the old man for a moment as though that was one of the dumbest things he had ever heard, "Then what should I say, I DO look like my dad after all, they can't find out!"

Sarutobi simply smirked as he laced his fingers before him, partially hiding his features from the teen, "Simple, that's what S Ranked secrets are for. Don't worry Naruto, I'll have it all under control.

"Does my sensei know?"

"Not as of yet, in fact I'm rather looking forward to seeing the look on his face…"

Naruto bit back a chuckle at the evil look on the elderly leaders face, it was times like this he was reminded who it was that helped him get his start in pranking. "Alright, alright, can't refuse the elderly's whims now can I?"

"You better believe it buster." His wild smirk really was the blonds' downfall this time as they shared a hearty laugh. After a few moments of basking in the mirth the Hokage leaned a bit forward, "Now tell me Naruto, how is your training progressing? Are you better able to handle your…what were they, plasmids yes?"

The teen nodded before letting the wind manifest on both arms, then the hives, "You bet old man, looks like all I had to do was shunt some of Shiori-chan's power to the other parts of my body while focusing on my abilities, nothing new has manifested yet, but I think some more of her body enhancements have been activating, I notice that I don't need to eat as much now and still have enough energy to just go and go, but if I do eat like I normally do then my strength can be a lot more explosive, it's pretty cool!"

"And these will still be passed on, yes?" He nods. "Alright, then when your abilities become public knowledge I will make the necessary arrangements for your clan status and get the ball rolling on taking your proper name. Are you still waiting to read their scrolls?"

After a hesitant moment he nodded, adverting his eyes, "Y-Ya…I don't know why…but I'm nervous as all hell…I…I at least want to become a genin proper, maybe then I'll think I've…I don't know, earned it?"

Sarutobi rose easily from his seat and clapped the teen on his shoulder, "Trust me, Naruto, they couldn't be more proud." Naruto gave him a weak smile, his eyes shining with unshed tears as he took comfort in his grandfather's presence, Shiori opting to stay quiet in order to give them their time. After taking a few moments to compose himself he gave the old man one more smile and headed for the academy, it was going to be an interesting day, to say the least.

* * *

Shino's life was a unique balance between simple and complex. His life at home was complex as he had to learn many unique chakra control exercises in order to ensure his hive would be properly fed, and yet keep them from draining him dry and ultimately killing him. His time at school was simple, as most considered him to be 'creepy' or 'gross' so they would leave him alone so that he could focus on his exercises even while his insects gathered the information he needed to pass his tests.

It was when it would come to the bug clones or sending swarms out that he could become 'himself' again, with the beetles gone and the chakra drain shunted to others or his 'painted' targets their focus would be shifted, letting him relax.

That's where the high collar came into play, covering his relieved expression and drooping eyes as he would let out an almost silent sigh, only Hinata seeming to be the one to catch his discomfort, offering a reassuring squeeze to his elbow or a small smile.

However, for the first time in his life, he was at a loss. There, walking into the classroom, was Naruto Uzumaki.

For some reason, he was under a henge, with his chakra levels peaking at a level that had him _forcing_ his insects to stay within him. It made no sense, Naruto had always had a lot of chakra, it was a small blessing for him to let many of his bugs out to snack on Naruto towards the end of the day as the teen _never_ seemed to run out of energy. He wasn't a fool, he knew he could get in trouble for doing this, but it was never many, and never enough to be noticed, though some part of him believed that Naruto knew what he had been doing to him for the last year he couldn't be certain. The way that he would, as he left the classroom, turn and give him something of a knowing look.

From a prankster like Naruto, it was a look you didn't want to be on the receiving end of.

Naruto moved further into the classroom to sit at the top row, opposite of the classroom from where Shino was sitting and plopped down before leaning back in a chair and propping his feet up on the desk. Shino had decided to put off the questions and the mussing for at least their lunch hour and turned his attention inward, focusing on shifting the chakra levels throughout his body so that he could keep the hive moving, testing their reaction times within his own body.

Slowly the reaming students began to trickle in, the standard conversations and muffled excitement climbing as the room filled, the graduates from the previous month all appearing in various states, some having changed their wardrobes or gotten shiny new gear from family members or cans. A few were showing off new swords and one of Sauske's fangirls, one Ami Morasaki, had a long chain wrapped around her petite form in a provocative manor, the chain ending in blade, showing it to be a kusarigama.

Shino knew for a fact that the girl had never even _touched_ such a thing before today; her sensei was going to be pissed. The stoic young man willed his bugs to buzz slightly to cover up his chuckle.

Finally the final two of the day decided to make themselves known, Sakura and Ino bursting into the room simultaneously and warping the from slightly, "I'M FIRST!"

"In your dreams Forehead!"

"True love conquers all!"

Kiba was currently doing his best to cover his ears as the girl's squabble only grew in pitch, making the boy curse his heightened senses. Chouji, for once, didn't have a bag of chips and instead was looking rather nervous as he cast half glances to his currently sleeping friend. Shino also made note that Hinata had been looking at Naruto once more, however, rather than the standard blush she was known to sport he was surprised to see her bloodline activated even as she was intensely focused on the blond.

Shino was about to put the odd occurrence out of his mind when several of his bugs started to buzz angrily at him. Shino, unknown to most of the class, tensed so harshly that he felt a sudden pulled muscle in his back even as he swiveled to look at Naruto.

There, with his head down on crossed arms was the blond, and currently resting on the back of his hand was what appeared to be a wasp as long as his index finger.

The blond didn't seem to be alarmed, if anything he seemed bored as he was almost nose to mandible with the insect as they seemed to just be studying one another, the shockingly large hunter idly buzzing it's wings a few times before it crawled over Naruto's hands a few times before disappearing under his sleeve.

Only one thought went through Shino's mind at that moment. 'Kamizuru…'

* * *

The assignments went largely without incident, save for the apparent elation and subsequent crushed spirits of Naruto and Sakura when they found out they were teamed with the Uchiha. Naruto had been debating on ambushing Sauske as part of a brilliant plan to find out Sakura's true feelings about himself when he was pulled suddenly into an ally to find him pressed against the bricks with a blade at his neck.

The blonds' head was spinning and very nearly let his henge fall as he came face to face with a set of dangerously glinting glasses.

"Who are you? Who sent you?"

Naruto gaped slightly at Shino as he glanced at the kunai, "Isn't that my line!"

"Are you a member of the Kamizuru clan?"

"The who?"

The blade pressed further into his 'throat' "Don't play the fool with me Uzumaki. I saw your insect."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as inside him Shiori was cursing up a storm, a strange thing for such a, normally, demure woman. "Shino, I don't know who those Kamizuru people are, but I can guarantee you that I am not one of them."

The blade eased slightly as the glare faded from his glasses, letting Naruto look into rather confused eyes, "Explain."

Naruto let out a sigh as he brought up one finger to push the blade away, "I'll tell you, but not here, let's go to one of the training grounds." The coat clad boy watched him for a moment before nodding and stepping back, the pair heading towards the closest grounds. Unknown to Shino Naruto made a discrete hand sign and at once a copy of himself shot off across the rooftops, intent on finding his quarry.

Sauske Uchiha.

The time in the clearing was a rather enlightening one for Naruto, apparently Shino had been more than a little impressed that Naruto had developed a bloodline that allowed him to create insects of pure chakra. Naruto, in exchange for Shino keeping his secret agreed to allow his beetles to feed off of the wasps after a mutually agreed series of sparring sessions. Naruto knew that he would be able to learn quite a bit about how his 'hive' would behave, while Shino would be able to train physically alongside Naruto without fear of running out of chakra.

It was a beautiful arrangement, both get stronger, both help one another, both will, hopefully, live to see twenty.

Upon returning to the academy Naruto glanced into the classroom to see his clone waiting in his previous seat and with a quick kawarimi dispelled the doppelganger.

And immediately regretted it.

To those that would care to look to the back of the classroom they would have seen Naruto's normally irremovable smile fade to a haunted look bereft of happiness. Inside Shiori was simply shocked at what she had heard and seen, Sakura insulting him because he didn't have any parents? Sauske taking up for him? It was like some kind of bizzaro world! Finally snapping out of her stupor she pulled her host into his mind and moved as close to the bars as she could, taking the boy into her arms.

"I-It's not true, is it Shiori-chan…she didn't really say all that…did she?"

She ran a hand gently down his features to cup his cheek, absently wiping at a tear he didnt know he had shed, "I tried to warn you last night dear one…she wasn't a good person."

She felt her heart break as the boy gave a strangled sob, curling into her embrace as close as he could, a part of him cursing the bars with a passion.

Shino was the only one that seemed to notice the fact that the blond had his head hidden into the crook of his elbow, his head down on the desk as he shuddered now and again. Watching Naruto for several moments he placed a hand on his shoulder, making the boy jerk upright suddenly as slightly puffy eyes , "W-What is it Shino-san? Are our sensei's here yet?"

"N-No…not yet…" It was the first time in the class's history that they had heard the stoic boy _stutter_.

"Oh…then what's up?"

"Are you alright, Uzumaki-san?"

Unseen to those around the Aburame he frowned as a clearly fake grin came over Naruto's features, just from their short lunchtime conversation he knew that Naruto had been faking a great many things in all the time he knew him. "Of course Shino! I'm great, believe it!"

He gave a slight nod before returning to his seat, the attention of the class rapidly dwindling even as a few sets of eyes were now studying the pair. One set belonging to a pale blond, one to a boy normally asleep, and one a boy whose normal vocabulary was 'Hrn'.

As the last of the students entered the room many were a bit surprised to see several men and women in various vests coming in to claim their teams, it was the last pair, however, that really caught Naruto's attention, the first was well known to him, Asuma Sarutobi, the Hokage's son, who quickly called out for team ten and left. However, it was the woman that had followed him in that caught many an eye.

She was a beauty to be sure, long raven hair that was slightly mused, giving her a 'just woke up' look, but her bright, crimson eyes spoke otherwise, the clear orbs scanning the room and taking in the last six students in the room.

"I am Kurenai Yuhi, Team Eight, you're with me."

However, she was mildly surprised to see four people stand though, and the resulting sets of eyes that turned on the blond. "YOU!"

She arched an eyebrow, "Do I know you?"

The look of fury on the blonds' face was more than a little shocking to those in the room; they had never seen Naruto get this mad before. "You sure as FUCK don't! And that's the problem!"

Kurenai let out a mildly annoyed huff as she tucked an errant stand of hair behind her ear, "Look kid, I'm not the kind to go for younger men, so why don't you have a seat."

If anything his rage only grew, "Fuck that lady, I don't know anyone that would stoop to someone like YOU!"

Now there were two angry people in the room, and five whose jaws were hanging limply.

"What are you talking about you brat! I could get any man I wanted to!"

Now it was his turn to snort, "Couldn't get me, bitch."

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR NAME, PUNK!"

"NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

That gave her pause; this was the kid that Anko had met? Couldn't be, she made him sound like the nicest guy in the world.

Then again, this WAS Anko.

"So you're supposed to be little liar that tricked Anko."

"Lady…" His voice was deathly quiet, only the silence in the room allowed anyone to hear his words at all, "You don't know a damn thing about me, and I'm the liar? It was because of you that Anko-chan started hating me, that she thought I lied to her…if it weren't for Iruka-sensei she still would. Take your students and get the hell out of here, if I see you again today I won't be held responsible for what I do."

"Are you threatening me, GENIN?"

He sent a smirk her way, his eyes cold as they bore into her own, "No, I'm just a civilian, warning a frigid bitch away from a threat to her health."

Her own scowl turned her once lovely features to mask of ugliness, "For that, you're going on report, Uzumkai."

"Good luck with that." He dropped back into his seat with a huff, his scowl never leaving even as something of a cocky smirk formed on his lips. He let his eyes track her until the group left, Hinata and Shino sending him odd looks even as Kiba was looking more than a little pissed.

As he tried to calm himself his vision was suddenly filled with pink, an angry pink. "What the hell do you think you're doing you BAKA! You got in trouble and we haven't even gotten our teacher yet!"

"Sakura…you don't know anything about the situation, so go sit down with your little boy toy and leave me alone."

Sauske's eyes were as wide as saucers as he saw the dobe of their class not only tell off a Jonin, but now try and put his own _crush_ in her place, 'What the hell is going on today…first he ties me up to take my place for some reason, then he acts like this…did he hear her earlier…and who is 'Anko'?'

A flush of anger filled her cheeks as she took a step back in shock, "W-What did you just say to me!"

This time a look that made her flinch was leveled on her, "Sorry, guess not having any parents was a bad influence on me."

Sauske flinched even as Sakura's eyes widened before she had to look anywhere except Naruto, "I-I…"

"Save it, I don't care anymore. Sauske, for what it's worth, thanks."

Before the raven haired teen could answer the door to the classroom opened once more reveling a masked man with gravity defying hair, "Well, well, I'd have to say my first impression of you all is…you're going to be a headache…Meet me on the-"

"Here will be fine, Kakashi-kun."

The masked Jonin stiffened slightly as he looked over his shoulder to see the Hokage, in full regalia, standing there with a small smile.

"H-Hokage-sama, is there something I can help you with? I know I was a little late, but-"

The elderly leader waved him off with a smile, "Now now, none of that, there's just something concerning Naruto that were going to have to go over away from prying eyes, and these rooms are shielded well enough to ensure our security." One of the things Kakashi hated the most was not knowing what someone had planned for him, even his boss…no, especially his boss…

"Oh course sir, after you." The silver haired Jonin snapped his book open as the duo moved into the room.

"Hey old man, I've got to warn you now, Kurenai-mesu will be paying you a visit later, thinks she can write me up for telling her off."

Sarutobi let out something of a tired sigh, "And what brought this on?"

"You know what happened with Anko-chan and me, ya? I yelled at her for it, she called me a liar, so I yelled more!"

The Hokage pulled his hat off and rubbed his scalp in annoyance, "I see…very well, I'll handle it. Now, are you ready for this?"

Naruto, knowing when to play a part when he needed to, cast somewhat nervous eyes to the others in the room, "Are you sure we have to do this Jii-jii? I can keep this up for days!"

Sarutobi hid his own smirk, "Now now, you can't have secrets on your team Naruto, it's only a little henge."

"Ya…one that will melt at least two minds when we do this."

The elderly leader moved towards the steps even as Naruto moved down. "Anyone else have any illusions active that I should be aware of? There can be no secrets on the team if you are going to work together properly."

The two young teens and silver haired teacher exchanged looks before shaking their heads, "No time like the present old man!"

The pair exchanged an unseen smirk as the Hokage put two fingers on Naruto's forehead even as he let his hive manifest under his clothing, making the wasps appear and vanish to create a smokescreen as he formed a hidden ram hand sign and began to pulse his chakra wildly.

The three onlookers had their jaws handing limply as they felt the sheer power coming from the 'dead last' even as the smoke enveloped the duo, Kakashi was about to leap into the veil, fearing for his leader, when a great whirlwind kicked up around the pair, dispersing the smoke and revealing a sight that had Kakashi's mask almost falling off, his jaw had dropped so low, his covered eye almost visible even with his headband still in place.

"S-Sensei?"

"Not quite, Kakashi-sensei."


	7. Chapter 7: Trials and Tribulations

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bioshock(2)

A/N: you all are probably getting tired of me saying 'sorry for this taking time' this time I don't really have an excuse, I was working on the other fics, sorry. That said, I'd wanted this one to go into the 'bell test' though with the help of LoPe21 we came up with a variation. I had it all done, but it just didn't feel right to me and my beta's, so I'm going to re-tool it. However, it is done, so it's not going to take too long to get done ^_^ So expect another chapter of this rather soon.

* * *

Rapture is Just the Beginning

Chapter 7: Trials and Tribulations

* * *

Kakashi was dumbfounded.

Sakura was in shock.

Sasuke was confused.

Naruto and Third were doing their best to keep their laughter under control.

There Naruto stood before the group, the short kid wearing the orange jumper was a thing of the past. Now there stood someone that had Sakura's Inner drooling to the point she was creating a new lake. Black pants not unlike Kakashi's, a tight Chinese styled sleeveless white shirt with black trim and fastenings going up the middle of his chest that showed off the long hours of work he had done in his life, work that was truly showing now that Shiori had helped even out his malnutrition. A blue weapons bandolier slung from his hips like a sash, black sandals and his blue headband largely finished off the look.

Although it was the new additions that Naruto were the most proud of, and that caught Sasuke's eye, were his brand new and significantly improved bracers. Each of the items had a stylized nine tailed fox emblazoned onto the hardened leather, a mixture of silver and copper flakes creating a brilliant, glittering, fire red accent to them, the foxes themselves actually masking an array of storage and enforcement seals courtesy of Tenten's father that now housed his new 'swords' as well as storage points for his kunai and shruiken. The belt/bandolier instead being reserved for his various tags, smoke and gas bombs and other scrolls he may need.

"Well? What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"

A strangled snort came from Sarutobi as Kakashi fainted outright, his visable eye wide and unblinking even as Sakura's mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for water.

"What are you playing at Dobe?"

He chuckled at that, making the Avenger twitch slightly, "I'm not playing Sasuke. This is the real me, I've had to go under a henge for years due to fact I looked too much like my father."

"B-But you're an orphan!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the pinkette, making her flinch, "I thought you were the smart one Sakura, even an orphan has parents, right Sasuke?"

The last Uchiha growled at that but in the end just crammed his hands into his pockets, "So that's why you sucked at genjutsu in class, you had another one to maintain the whole time."

The blond shrugged as he leaned against a desk, careful to avoid his ponytail, as he had gotten it caught on something once already.

Wasn't much fun.

"Actually Sasuke-kun Naruto is unable to use genjutsu due to the levels of chakra he possesses, He's unable to use low enough emissions to even begin to form them, this henge of Naruto's is actually the best he can manage, and he uses that with his excess chakra that he naturally emits."

This caught Sasuke off guard, he knew the blond had a lot of energy, but to have that much chakra was unheard of, "Don't you mean that his control is just bad? If that were true he's have more chakra than even my brother!"

The aged leader nodded at that, "Yes and no. His levels are higher than almost anyone in the village, even now, however his control is poor, however, as he attempts more control exercises his reserves will expand as well, so it's a constant battle for Naruto just to keep his levels low enough that he won't outright blind the Hyuuga clan should they look at him with their bloodline activated. Currently Naruto is making progress with his control, however it is unlikely that he will ever have the levels needed to, say, use medical jutsu."

Despite his shock at that revelation a part of Sasuke was happy, when his Sharingan awoke it would almost guarantee victory over Naruto, its chakra reading abilities would allow him to predict Naruto's movements as easily as a sloth, and would make great practice for his brother. "I see…"

Sakura was at a total loss, her logical side was telling her exactly who Naruto's father had been, but every other part of her was screaming that it couldn't be true, "N-Naruto…you're not suggesting that…"

"I don't have to suggest anything, Sakura, I know who my parents were, I've got my father's devilish good looks, and my mother's devil-may-care attitude. And before you ask, I don't have to prove a damn thing to you. So don't bother." Naruto knew he was pulling half of that out of his ass, he hadn't read his scrolls yet, but she didn't have to know that…

Inside his head, he could hear Shiori practically rolling with laughter, something that almost made it hard for him to keep a straight face.

Seeing Sakura shrink back slightly caused the old man to arch an eyebrow, he didn't know what had happened between the two, but it seemed Naruto had gotten over his crush with a vengeance. "Now Naruto…What you two need to understand is that there are many secrets surrounding Naruto that you will have to know so that you can work together properly, the first, of course, is his true appearance, and the truth behind it. Others are not for me to tell, but for him to decide that your trustworthy enough for him."

"L-Lord Hokage, not to be disrespectful…but how is there something that Naruto knows that you wouldn't be allowed to tell us?"

The Hokage looked at the pink haired girl as though she had grown a second head. "Tell me, Haruno-san, would it be considered proper for me to inform, say, the Hyuga about the secrets of the Sharingan?"

Sasuke felt his blood run cold, the very _idea_ of the Hokage giving away cla-His eyes widened in realization, "I see…Naruto's other secrets are to be considered clan matters. Sakura, don't pester him anymore."

"Bu-"

His glare caused the pinkette to shrink in on herself, "Clans are formed for a reason Sakura, be it to protect family, protect secrets or to protect bloodlines, you have no right to demand that of another."

"But he's not a member of a clan!"

"Yet."

The gathered people looked in surprise down at the now apparently conscious jonin, the man still looking up at Naruto as if he was seeing a ghost, "One of the things that sensei wanted most in life was to have a family. He wanted the pride, the joy of teaching his children his techniques. I imagine that his wife, however she may be, would agree."

Naruto was dumbstruck by the jonin's words, he was wanted…he knew that the Third had told him as much, but a part of him believed that it was just words from his 'grandfather' meant to encourage him and keep him happy, but now here was his teacher, who was apparently his father's student, saying something like that… "D-Did you know him…you called him sensei…"

The jonin gave something that felt like a sad smile, "I did, he was a great man, and the thought of having his son on my team…I can't describe it…"

"Ahem…" The four members of team seven snapped to attention so fast that the aged leader almost laughed at it, "Now I'm glad to see that you are all getting along…well…most of you, but that will have to wait for later. For now you all have to understand that this information is considered an S class secret. As it stands Minato, and by extension, Naruto had a great deal of enemies, both inside and outside the village. Until Naruto has reached a level that will allow him to protect himself it will have to be kept secret from everyone. There may come a time soon that Naruto will be able to at least reveal his true appearance, but for now it must remain a secret. Understood?"

The trio nodded, Sakura somewhat reluctantly, before the Hokage gave Naruto's shoulder a firm squeeze and vanished in a swirl of leaves. Taking a moment to collect themselves Kakashi turned smiling eyes on the pair, "Now then, how about we introduce ourselves…"

For the most part the introductions were pretty much what he had expected. The pinkette was a fan girl, the brooder wanted to kill his brother, and the blond wanted to be the next Hokage, although he was a bit surprised to hear the names of two girls listed among the people he liked, a Shiori and Anko. For a moment he was more than a little shocked, everything he was told suggested he had a crush on the girl seated before him, however if anything he seemed to be regarding her rather coldly, and she seemed more than a little afraid of him, apparently not of the boy himself, but from some shame that seemed to linger in her eyes, eyes that wouldn't even rise enough to look at the blonds' belt.

"Alright, well that's enough of that I think, tomorrow you all need to meet me at training ground number seven at seven AM for your genin test, oh an-"

"WHAT! BUT WE ALREADY PASSED!"

The three males of the team cringed at the girls cries of protest before Naruto gave her a hard glare, "SAKURA! It doesn't matter if the academy says we passed, if our sensei wants to give us another test then that's his choice!"

The girl simply glowered at him before crossing her arms and looking away with a 'hrumph' "It doesn't matter, the academy says we passed then we passed, if he fails us then we'll get another teacher."

Even Sasuke just looked at the girl in shock, "Sakura, he's to be our sensei, we are his soldiers, if he says we need more training then he _will_ send us back to back to the academy."

Sakura couldn't believe it, in one day the boy of her dreams had spoken more than in all the days they had spent in the academy combined, and almost all of it was in _support_ of either Naruto, the Hokage or their sensei! "B-But Sasuke-kun do-"

This time it was the man with the gravity defying hair that stopped her, "He's right. Report to the training grounds tomorrow at seven, oh, and don't bother eating, you'll just throw up." With that the man pulled a little orange book from his weapon pouch and vanished, much as their Hokage had.

"Well…looks like I have to wait one more day…"

"For what Dobe?"

He smirked at the Uchiha, "It's a s-e-c-r-e-t!"

If anything, to the pair's surprise he smirked back, "Oh…So tell me, what's your bloodline?"

That gave Naruto pause even as Sakura looked confused, "How do you figure that I even have one?"

"The Hokage was hinting at clan matters, that means a bloodline, you can't be in a clan just with secret techniques and a name. So spill it."

Sakura looked to Naruto expectantly, trying to understand what make the blond so important, if anything Naruto's grin just grew, "I think I'll save that for later…you want to show off a bit in the test to don't you?"

"Hrn…"

"I promise you, you'll like it. May even keep pinky here quiet for a while…"

"HEY!"

"Heh…then you really should show me now."

The pinkette had to fight the urge to slap herself, today _couldn't_ be happening! It had to be a dream! Naruto was a hottie, he and Sasuke were friends! Naruto was the son of a village hero! _'It's a madhouse…a MAD HOUSE!'_

The pair watched in mild shock as Sakura started twitching, her eyes unfocused not unlike how his would be when he was visiting Shiori-chan, "Sakura…are you alright?"

She seemed to come out of her stupor with a start, "Huh…Oh, ya, I'm fine." She gave the duo a weak smile before hesitantly moving up to the avenger, "S-So, Sasuke-kun, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

"No."

"O-Oh…alright…maybe toma-" She was cutoff as the man of her dreams turned on his heel and made to march out of the room, just as he was about to close the door he paused and looked back to the blond, "Dobe." Naruto arched an eyebrow in question, "You now have a legacy to uphold, don't disappoint them."

Naruto was left wide eyed as he watched the door close with a soft 'clack' of wood on wood, Sasuke was being more friendly with him than he could ever remember the boy being with anyone besides maybe his brother. Naruto thought back to the few times that he had managed to spy on the duo when Itachi was showing Sasuke the fireball technique, each time the elder would seemingly just poke the boy in the forehead when he would try and ask questions that the ANBU felt were unneeded, but some part of him could always tell the great affection that they felt for each other, and the fierce pride Sasuke would take in his techniques, pride he now understood as something he honed to uphold his clan's legacy.

In a way it was humbling. Sasuke, the Last Uchiha, the Survivor, the village golden boy, was trying to help him uphold his clans honor, even though it hadn't even started yet.

He grinned.

He'd be damned if he was going to let that spoiled punk tell him off like that. _'I'll show you Sasuke, I'm not just some dobe that will be seen as a lesser clan by you…'_

Inside he felt that same ghost of an embrace flitter across his mind, _'Damn right, and I'll be right there helping you, Naruto-koi'_

That made him smile again as he moved out of the room and headed towards the training grounds, not seeming to hear Sakura's called after him, he had training to do, making sure that his new move was perfected before he tried it out on his sensei. _'Oh, I think he's going to be surprised, no problems there Dear One.'_

_'Heh, I know, but I want to make sure of this before tomorrow, better safe than sorry ya?'_

His answer was simply another nod as Naruto started making his way to grounds forty-four, there was no better place to go to practice mass destruction in his mind than that hell hole, and if he was lucky he would run into Anko-chan.

* * *

The Hokage was currently lost in a sea of paperwork, his desk filled with the files he would need in order to get Naruto's clan started and hopefully cement the village a new, loyal clan of bloodline users. As he was sitting the next stack of documents aside, the papers only needing the blonds' signature to make it official, he heard a knock at his door.

"Enter."

His face was overcome with a smile as he saw the purple haired Snake Mistress step through the portal, "Good afternoon Sarutobi-sama, you requested my presence?"

With a smile he took off his hat, using the thick veils to cover the paperwork casually, before he gestured to the seat before him, "Ah, Anko-chan, glad you could make it, I trust your day was well?"

She gave a half shrug as she settled into the overstuffed armchair, "As well as can be expected…"

His eyes fell to his desktop slightly with a pained look taking over his features, "I see…I am sorry for that, you don't deserve it."

She waved off the elderly leader offhandedly, "Don't worry about it, you can't order these idiots to treat me better, if you could you would do it for the boy."

He nodded slightly at that, "Indeed, still, I would like to think that they would overlook things, in light of your years of service. Anyway, for the reason I called you here today…' She perked up a bit at that, sitting a little straighter, 'Naruto told me of the issues the two of you had, or, perhaps I should say, their resolution. Is there anything about that that you wish to add? I'm told I will have a visitor soon that will take…issue with Naruto."

This caused her eyes to narrow, "Who's got a problem with the brat? He hasn't done anything to me or to anyone els-"

He raised a placating hand to the woman, "You don't need to defend him to me Anko-chan, I'm told he insulted one of the jonin sensei that took a team today, that she will be taking issue with the things he said."

That gave her pause; Naruto wasn't one to just fly off the handle on someone, "Why?"

He gave her a small smirk, "Kurenai Yuhi."

Despite the fact that it was her friends at odds Anko had to laugh, if there was a single person in the village right now that Naruto outright hated, other than Mizuki, it would be Kurenai, "Oh man…what did he do? You gotta tell me!"

The Hokage let out a chuckle of his own at her suddenly happy state, "I don't have the full story, apparently he made some rather…tasteless remarks about her ability to attract men, when she found out his name she called him a liar, that's what really set him off…"

Now that gave her pause, her best female friend, just called one of her best male friends a liar? Putting aside the fact that she had done the same thing not a month ago she growled, then the truth of the situation hit her, Kurenai was the one that put the idea in her head, had started the whole thing… "I'm going to KILL HER!"

The elderly leader arched an eyebrow at that, "Anko-chan, should I be fearing for one of my jonin?"

"Maybe."

"Explain."

With a heavy sigh she launched into her explanation about what all had happened with the duo, the budding friendship with Naruto that was squelched by Kurenai's questioning of his abilities, the avoidance, the encounter with Iruka and their makeup, everything up to the boy's meeting with his team today. "That's about it…"

"I see...well that would certainly be enough to annoy anyone I think…Though I do feel that this whole situation had been handled rather poorly."

"You're telling me…"

He almost couldn't make out her grumbling, "Still, it would seem that Kurenai has decided to pull rank in this situation, it could get rather…touchy."

To his surprise she just laughed outright, "What? Are you kidding me? Don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet!" He simply looked at her expectantly, making her smack herself in the forehead, "You really are losing your touch Hokage-sama,' The elderly leader just scowled slightly, he knew she was just ribbing him, but still… 'She _can't _bring him up on charges yet!"

He just looked at her in confusion for a moment before it slowly dawned on him, when the thought had fully formed he just let out a bark of laughter, "Oh course! He's not a genin yet, can't get a ninja in trouble for insubordination if they aren't even ninja yet…Naruto must have known, that would be just like him…why didn't I ever think of that when I was his age…."

She just gave a shrug, "I don't know, did they even have ninja back then?"

Before he could answer back there was another knock at the door, at once Anko shot to her feet and put on her best 'I'll burn the world' face before winking at the Hoage, his grin eerily reminiscent of Naruto's, "Enter."

At once the door opened to reveal the livid form of Kurenai, her normally disheveled hair seemed to move of its own volition as she stormed into the office, "My Lord, I have a formal complaint to register!" She barely even noted Anko's presence, it wasn't uncommon for the special jonin to be in the office with the Hokage, the man was like a father to her after everything had happened.

"Oh? This sounds rather serious, tell me what happened."

At once Kurenai launched into her account of the day, adding the suitable level of embellishment to her tale to make her sound all the more the victim, neither of the other room's occupants could be sure that this was just an act, or if she somehow really believed it. It wasn't uncommon for the injured party to do such things, most of the time unconsciously, but given that the jonin was a master of illusions….

"My my…that is serious…tell me, who was this ninja?"

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

The Hokage made a show of looking through the current ninja register, repeatedly thumbing through the book as he searched for a name that he knew wasn't there. "I'm sorry Yuhi-san, there isn't such a ninja on record."

"You know DAMN well who I'm talking about! The Kyuubi brat!"

Even as the worlds left her lips she knew that was the wrong thing to say, almost as soon as the first syllable left her mouth she was met with furious looks from her Lord not to mention her best friend. A cold sweat began to trickle down the back of her neck even as the duo's chakra started to spike, a dark, malevolent aura forming over Anko as her curse mark tried to activate, the kunoichi ignoring the pain for the time being as she took a step towards her friend even as the Hokage's swirling chakra began to grind against his desk.

"Kurenai-chan…I think you should rephrase that…"

At once the woman dropped to one knee, her head lowered as she began to tremble, "F-Forgive me Hokage-sama…I spoke without thinking…I was just s-"

To both women's shock the elderly leader let out a roar that shook them to their cores, "**_SILENCE!_** I'm truly disappointed with you Kurenai, you've read the reports about Naruto, you know the hell he's been through, and yet you think just like **_them._** Your complaints have been noted and your issues are hereby ignored. Naruto is not yet a ninja of the village, until he passes his sensei's test tomorrow no charges can be brought up against him, and seeing as I have gotten all sides of the story, even if you _do_ come back and try again it will be thrown out. You slandered the good name of a potential ninja of the village to a jonin that then lead to this situation. He has every right to be mad at you and to say what he did. And after your behavior here today I'm shocked he didn't do more. Dismissed!"

Rising on unsteady legs the brunette almost sprinted from the office, tears that refused to fall stinging her eyes. She knew she was in the wrong, she knew that he had every right to get mad, so why didn't she handle this like an adult? Sarutobi let out a heavy sight before gesturing to Anko, "You better go after her…I fear I said to much…she's not the only one with a short fuse at times…"

With a sharp nod Anko Shunshined from the room, heading directly to Kurenai's apartment, she had a feeling this was going to be a long night.

* * *

The next day seemed to come all too soon for Naruto, but that was to be expected when you train yourself to exhaustion, the blond making it back to his apartment on legs of gelatin before collapsing on his couch. When he did rise he was so blurry eyed he had run into the wall on his way to the bathroom, however even his icy shower wasn't enough to wake the blond up, so he was blissfully unaware of doing anything wrong when he reheated a pair of pork buns that he had made a few days ago and happily munched them in rout to the training grounds.

However, that little mistake was suddenly brought to light when his ears met the growling of two other stomachs, for a split-second the blond was confused before he winced, having recalled their sensei's last words. Deciding for a moment that he should at least _act_ hungry he put on a mask of fatigue and absently put a hand next to his belly. Entering the clearing he spotted his teammates currently leaning against a set of trees, both looking a bit worse for the wear, their eyes slightly shadowed, probably from worrying about the test, and the odd grumble from their stomachs telling him that they, at least, remembered their sensei's words.

"H-Hey guys, how's it going?"

"You're LATE!" Naruto simply waved the girl off before she seemed to look at him all the harder, "Y-Your back to normal!"

"Henge…"

She flushed at that, fighting the urge to kick herself even as her inner was laughing her ass of, and if she could see into Naruto's head she would see the same happening with rather attractive young thing in a red kimono.

"Sasuke…do you mind if ask you something?" The boy in question simply arched an eyebrow at the blond, "Why are you treating me so different?"

The raven haired teen gave him a hard look for a time before letting out a breath of annoyance, "I can't talk about that, isn't it a secret?"

Sakura looked between the two, seeing Naruto's scowl and Sasuke's growing look of confusion. "So that's the only reason…"

"Of course."

To the two's surprise the blonds' features seemed to go neutral, his eyes seeming rather dead as he looked to Sakura, "And you? Are you going to be like him?"

"If Sasuke-kun thin-"

"I see…As soon as the opportunity arises I'll get out of your hair. Though it may not be until the chunin exams…" The two looked to one another before staring at the Namikaze heir in surprise, they knew of Naruto's dream, hell; he would literally shout it from the rooftops, now he was trying to get away from them?

"Dobe, what are you playing at? We have to help each other."

"Why."

For the briefest of seconds Sasuke could have sworn he had seen an enraged version of the teen from yesterday, "Those of our station must help one another."

If anything Naruto's scowl grew, "And who taught you that rubbish?"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to get pissed, "My FATHER!"

Naruto just let out a hiss, "Worthless…"

Naruto was rather surprised to see how fast Sasuke could move when he was motivated, but Naruto wasn't able to outrun ANBU by mere luck, with hardly a move he seemed to _sway_ and avoid the blow, catching the raven haired teen's wrist and pulling him closer, "Sasuke-teme…do you know why I'm mad?" Sasuke just spit on the ground next to them as Sakura looked on in confusion, her hands wringing before her nervously, "Because right now you don't see me. You see a ghost that your father told you stories about, didn't he? I died yesterday as far as you and Sakura are concerned….Naruto Uzumaki is dead to you; all you see is a Namikaze. I will never live in my father's shadow, I will surpass him, the Senju, the Sarutobi, _everyone_. We are very alike Uchiha…you want to kill your brother…but tell me…if people only started thinking of you of Itachi's brother, and not Sasuke…how would you feel?"

Sasuke seemed to stiffen as Naruto mumbled his little speech to him, seemingly intent on keeping this from Sakura. He was a bit shocked that Naruto could be right on every point, the thought of those of the village only thinking of him as Itachi's replacement, or only putting him on that same scale as his brother sickened him. Yes, he wanted to get stronger than him, to kill him, but what of after that? Would he be Sasuke Uchiha, greatest of the clan? Or would be just be 'the best since Itachi'

Would he ever escape his shadow?

Sasuke felt a twinge of something he had not felt since he had first heard of his brother's betrayal.

Shame.

Naruto's grip slowly loosened, letting the Uchiha step back from the blond, yet he still couldn't look him in the eye, "Y-You right…clean out your ears Dobe, I'm only going to say this once." Naruto quirked an eyebrow at him, "I'm sorry."

Both Sakura's and Naruto's eyes widened in shock. After a moment Naruto just smirked and clapped the teen on the shoulder, "Apology accepted. Don't let it happen again. Sasuke Uchiha. Avenger of the Clan."

The teen in question just smirked as he turned back to the tree, "It never did happen, Naruto Uzumaki, Dobe of the Village."

Naruto's footing faltered at that, "Hey! Damnit! I gave you a good title!"

He snorted, "Because you know your betters when you meet them."

"THAT'S IT!"

"Am I interrupting something?" The trio looked up to find the silver haired jonin sitting in the tree above Sakura, a little orange book healed firmly in hand as his visible eye scanned the pages.

"Just the Teme's asskicking. Where the hell have you been!"

He just gave them the same little eye-smile that they had seen yesterday, "Sorry about that, I got lost on the road of life."

"LIAR!"

Kakashi very nearly leapt out of the tree in shock, he had heard the Haruno was loud…but that was Gai worthy… "Anyway, I hope you're all rested up and well fed…"

Sakura and Sasuke both paled at that, "B-But you said not to eat breakfast!"

He gave a slight nod as he turned the page, "Yes, I did say that, didn't I? But that didn't mean that you couldn't have eater a big mean say…around midnight…"

If looks could kill, Kakashi would be a paste on the tree trunks...

"Now then, if you all think that you're ready for your test we can get started."

"So what are we going to have to do sensei?"

He gave the pink haired girl a half glance before reaching into his belt pouch once more and pulled out three small scrolls. "You see, originally I had planned on issuing the bell test, but after yesterday's revelations, I think it may be better to try something a bit more…difficult…"

Kakashi caught the dark look that came from Naruto, something that promised a good bit of pain, the combined look of shame and frustration from Sasuke further threw him, but for now he had to push that aside, "Now then, each of you will be given a scroll. Somewhere in the forests and training grounds surrounding the village is your target. Your task, is to retrieve the objects described on your scrolls as quickly as possible, however, there are conditions. First, if someone finds more than one, it's theirs. So if, say, Sakura were to find everything, then only she would pass. Second, I will be running interference throughout the test doing my best to stop you, and to take the scrolls you possess. I suggest coming at me with the intent to kill, otherwise…" The trio were now doing their best not to fidget under the pressure. "Lastly, if you do not acquire your item or items in the time limit, or I should take your scroll you will fail the test and be sent back to the academy for more training." The trio shot one another hard looks before turning back to the jonin and nodding. The silver haired man returned the gesture and tossed them their scrolls. "You all have until noon. You'll find your directions inside your scrolls. Good luck." He clapped a small bedside clock onto a stump that began the ominous countdown.

Three hours.


	8. Chapter 8: Teamwork?

Disclaimer: I own very little in life…

A/N: Here be the next one, I think I could still improve it more, but I know folk are getting antsy, so here ya go, hell, if I waited to post everything until it was 'perfect' I would never post .

As a secondary note, this would have been out sooner, but I got into the FF14 beta test and that's been eating up some time, add in the holiday and the new Warhammer rules dropping and making the game fun again and I was in trouble .

EDIT: Special thanks to Soulblazer87 for pointing out that I had used the wrong root (Well, not exactly correct) for 'Wasp/hornet' in Japanese, the jutsu have been adjusted for this, thanks again mate ^_^

* * *

Rapture is Just the Beginning

Chapter 8: Teamwork?

* * *

With a violent swirl of leafs the jonin vanished, blinding the trio with the wind and dust. Naruto looked down at the scroll in his hands and smirked, noting the seal placed on it was not unlike that on his parents scrolls. Biting his thumb a part of him noticed Sakura looking to Sasuke, seeming to be looking to him to take her lead.

Putting it out of his mind he smeared his blood onto the seal and was rewarded with a soft 'click' before he unfurled the parchment. Naruto arched an eyebrow at the single image that was staring back at him. 'Icha Icha Paradise vol. six? What the hell is this?'

"Um…guys? What did you get?" Looking up he was mildly surprised to see that the clearing was now empty, the tracks of his teammates showing that Sauske had moved off deeper into the forest with Sakura's smaller footprints following his. He let out a huff of annoyance before he shunted some of his chakra into his hand, letting his hive form. Quickly a swarm rose into the air and seemed to hover, the collection of wasps staring at him as if waiting for something. Focusing on the images of his teammates the swarm sped off into the distance, intent on finding their targets.

"My my…I've never seen a jutsu quite like that before…is it a bloodline?"

Naruto stiffened as he felt the hot breath pass over his ear, the voice of his sensei far too close for his comfort. Not wasting a moment he flicked his free hand back at the ground behind him and was rewarded with the startled yelp of the older man as well as the rush of wind scattering rocks around him, a few of them impacting him and dispelling his henge.

Not one to wait he spun and let loose a brace of shruiken, the bits of metal fanning out in a small cloud, no true target in mind, just trying to catch him at all with the blades. His eyes looked skyward and he had to fight the urge to curse, there, now impaled by three of his six blades, was a log.

"Another interesting technique…how many more of those are you hiding Namikaze-sama?" The blonds' eyes narrowed in anger as he heard Kakashi's voice once more, this time echoing through the clearing, "You need to be more on the ball if you want to keep me from taking that scroll of yours…"

Discreetly letting chakra flow around him he started letting the hive from across his body, not caring that the jonin could see the odd technique. "Perhaps, but you would have to catch me first, Hatake-san, and I fear you will have a lot more to worry about than just some unknown techniques I have, after all, the ones I've shown you thus far are more than enough to deal with you…"

He could make out the sound of Kakashi turning a page in a book, the thought of it making him grimace in annoyance, this guy told them to be serious, and yet he would _read_ while they fought them?

He'd live to regret it.

Maybe.

"Oh…I don't know about that…a few bee stings aren't going to stop me. A dust devil, while an interesting distraction, is minor.'

"Is that so?" He started gathering some of Shiori's chakra into his feet, ankles on down starting to get cooler as the wind began to gather.

"Hm? You say something?"

Naruto twitched in annoyance before he threw his arms wide, his body being obscured in smoke as his wasps formed and vanished at one before area darkened in a massive swarm of insects the first several instantly dispelling and affording Naruto with a quick, three-sixty view of the area and letting him spot Kakashi in a nearby tree. He smirked as he saw the man's eyes widen in surprise before the swarm was upon him, again the center of the group was obscured with a puff of smoke, showing another log that was now covered with angry insects.

For Kakashi, this was a novel experience, when he had seen Naruto throw up his arms he had been expecting something like the last swarm to come, however, seeing the boy suddenly hidden in smoke as the first group simply vanished, like they were simple clones, was not something he was anticipating, let alone the group of bugs that came afterwards, the force of their wings flapping scatting the smoke to show that his sensei's son was long gone. He used a quick substitution to make sure he was well away from the things, but that only made the tracking of the blond that much harder. At one point knowing where Naruto was was a simple thing, yesterday and at the start of today he had a chakra signature that was so massive that he could have found him in his sleep.

That was not the case now.

Now he had suppressed it to the point that it was difficult to make out from the insects themselves, making his job that much more difficult as the swarm dispersed once more and seemed to fill the clearing in an almost perfect sphere.

'_Hmmm….it's not that their limited in range…he sent those others off already…maybe he's trying to use them as a screen…if I kill one he will probably feel it…then I'll have given away my position…what a strange technique…Minato-sensei didn't have this bloodline…I didn't think Kushina-san didn't either…so wh-'_

The jonin felt the added, gentle weight on his shoulder and looked over, seeing the black and yellow insect seemingly look into his eyes for a moment before the stinger pierced through his shirt and sink deep into his skin, he let out a hiss of pain before swatting the bug and to his surprise it vanished in a puff of smoke. _'Shadow clone!'_

Looking back to the clearing he saw the swarm scatter, filling the air further before half of them, the sphere still present, moved in, streaking towards him, their stingers ready. He cursed his luck at seeing the larger grouping holding back; even if he swapped he would be trapped. Forming a single sign he let the chakra form and create the familiar pull of the body flicker, the whirling mass of air taking out a number of the insects before he reappeared. Taking a moment to reorient himself he looked for the white of the teen's shirt and smiled.

This was going to be more fun than he thought…

* * *

Sauske was absolutely livid, first he was told off by the class Dobe, then he had to deal with this little nuisance following him while he tried to find his objects, a sack of dog treats and some toys, two sets of things he had _no clue_ where to look for, was there even a pet shop _in _Konoha?

"Sauske-kun, what is it that you have to find?"

Was this going to be how his career was going to be? Babysitting this waif of a girl and being lectured by a boy that had apparently been hiding all his skills his whole time in the academy? The added fact that he hadn't noticed that the blond had been doing it was just a twist of the knife.

"Sauske-kun?"

"Go away Sakura."

"B-"

"Sakura. You were given your task, get away from me."

"But if we work together we co-"

"_Sakura_, you're only going to slow me down. Get out of here."

The pinkette felt the pained sting of tears reach her eyes as she froze, stunned into inaction by her crush's harsh words. She knew he was better at the physical, hell, Naruto was, and he was the dead last, but to be so bluntly put down by one she cared for so much… Slowly that pain began to fade into a numbed coldness in her chest, like it had every time he had turned his back on her or the other girls after they asked for a date, or just to spend some time with him. "You really think I can't be of help?"

"Yes."

Taking a moment to nod to herself he changed direction slightly, if that's the way he wanted to play it, she'd show him just what he was missing…

Deciding that she was far enough from the raven haired teen she formed several quick hand signs, two copies of her coming to life before they went different directions, one of them taking back off after the Uchiha.

No reason not to keep up appearances ya? Looking again at her scroll he went through the small list of plants, adenium obesum, angel's trumpet, jequirity seeds, the list went on, ten in total. She knew right away why she was given this list, she was the smartest in their class, and would likely be the only one that could identify even half of this.

Poison, that's what every one of these plants had in common, some of the most debilitating, if not deadly plants she had ever seen. Going through the list carefully she knew that several of these she could get at some of the ninja outfitters, others she could probably find at the Yamanaka's florist shop, however their sensei had said that the items were in the training grounds and surrounding forest, that meant no trips into town. Letting out a sigh of annoyance she rolled back up her scroll and slipped it into a hip pouch, it was going to be a long day…

* * *

Naruto was starting to understand that his task was probably an impossible one…

The reason for this was simple, some of the wasps he had out tracking Sauske and Sakura has been keeping very good tabs for him, and in their observations he saw the item he was after, the little orange book that his sensei currently had open and reading as he followed Sauske. He had sent the rest of the bugs out further into the forests and grounds, trying to disperse them enough so that they wouldn't be as noticeable; however as they spread his control would waver and they would 'pop'.

Now wasn't the time to find out something like that.

Naruto wasn't a fool, he knew from his encounters with Iruka and Anko that he couldn't take on Kakashi alone, so putting his pride aside he focused on sending the image of Sakura out to the swarm. At once they seemed to coalesce and homed in on his target, the ones around him leading the way.

For Sakura, things were not going well, she had been searching through the brush for half an hour now and there was still no sign of even the most common of the plants that she needed. Cursing the rules of their test not for the first time she was about to move on when she felt something land on her shoulder. She absently flicked her hand at it and the weight vanished before another was felt on her other side. Looking over in annoyance she froze.

That was the biggest wasp she had _ever seen_. She gave a squeak as the six inch insect crawled closer to her throat, her body stiffening in fear before it seemed to tickle her with its antennae, then lifted off as though all it wanted to do was annoy her. Letting out the breath she had been holding she followed it with her eyes and almost fainted. There, all around her was a swarm that had to be ten times larger than anything should have a right to be. The loud buzzing that she was attributing to the blood that had rushed to her ears was not that much more obvious. Understanding that she had no way out of this without getting at least a single sting she pulled a fist full of explosive tags and started wrapping them around the handle of her kunai, just as she was finishing the fifth she saw the swarm seem to open up before the white, black and yellow blur come hurdling through the treetops to land beside her.

"Naruto! You idiot! Now you're trapped to!"

He looked at her in confusion for a moment before chuckling, "Who says I'm not the one who trapped you, ne?"

Remembering the rules of the test Sakura cursed herself, she never thought that Naruto would stoop to trying to undermine her like this. "So you're going to steal my scroll then…well I hope you're ready for a fight then you BAKA!"

Naruto scowled at the pinkette for a moment before letting out an annoyed huff, "You think I have nothing better than to make sure you don't pass? Havent you figured it out yet _forehead_?"

She glowered at him for the old nickname, "Oh course, it's search and retrieval, standard issue."

He nodded, "Yes, and have you figured out the target yet?"

"It's different for each of us."

"Wrong." She arched an eyebrow at that, "All three of us have to find the same thing."

"You idiot, I have to find a bunch of plants! Are you saying you have to find the same thing?"

"Yes and no. You have plants, I have a book, Sauske has to find stuff for a dog."

She felt a chill run up her spine, if he had found out about Sauske's items when she couldn't…and she had followed him for so long, then how good was he really? "How could you know that? He didn't even tell me! Is it because of the c-"

Naruto's cold look silenced her before she could say more, something she was absently grateful for, she almost said an S-class secret _aloud_, "Watch what you say Haruno, the forest has more ears than you know. I found out because of my little friends here." Raising a hand one of the insects landed on his hand before poofing out of existence.

"Summons?"

"No, it's one of the abilities I hinted at yesterday, these are chakra constructs, like my clones."

"But…they were solid!"

"Yes, just like my clones." She continued to look at him like he'd sprouted a third arm, letting out an annoyed sigh he formed a single hand sign and at once four more Naruto's appeared in the clearing with them, one of them picking up a pebble and beaning her in the forehead with it. "Are we learning yet? Come on, we have to get to Sauske, we'll have to work together to catch Hatake."

"Why would we need to capture sensei?"

"Who do you think has what we all need?"

Sakura's eyes widened a moment before she cursed, of _course_ he would have it, and these plants were so deadly that in some cases just touching one could end you. There was no way that there would be something like this just growing wild without some of the security or medical forces pulling it all up for village use. "But how do you know he has the book, or the dog stuff?"

"When he came after me, when you all _left me _he was reading it. If he had the book, it stands to reason that he would have those deadly plants, and if he has those then he probably has the stuff for a dog as well, might have a pet or something…"

"So you're not sure of any of it?"

"Only the book."

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion for a moment before taking a half step back, "So you're just going to use me to get in there, get the book then let him catch me and my scroll…you _bastard!_"

His eyes widened in shock as Sakura's fist connected hard with the back of his head, sending him to the dirt and disrupting his concentration long enough for the swarm to disperse. Lost in the smoke and holding his head in pain he never noticed the deft hands snatching the bit of parchment from the ground before the shock of red and pink that was Sakura faded from the clearing.

* * *

Kakashi sighed in annoyance as his own clone dispersed, sending the results of that little encounter to the real Kakashi, who was currently dodging and countering Sauske as he tried to hold onto his own scroll. '_Well, looks like I can't fail him at least…still, never thought that she would attack a teammate like that…'_ His free hand came up to catch the shruiken that the raven haired teen had just sent his way.

"You'll never get this scroll, I'm going to pass, then I'm going to become the strongest there is! Then when they all understand that, I'll kill _him_!"

"Hm? You say something?" '_Odd…that's not exactly what he said yesterday…' _The jonin's eyes widened in shock as the Uchiha snapped trough several hand signs, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" with a smirk he let the flames obscure the teen's vision before blurring though his own jutsu, sinking into the earth, _'Interesting…he shouldn't have the chakra for such an attack…seems like I have a unique crop this year.' _He could fell the vibrations of the Uchiha's movements and pushed his chakra through the earth, letting him flow through it like a fish before his hands shot out and snagged the boy by the ankles and yanking him neck deep before he leapt out and looked down at him with a smile. "Second rule of ninja combat, Ninjutsu. You were quite impressive Sauske, bu-"

Sauske's eyes widened in shock as a whirlwind suddenly appeared under the jonin before blowing itself out and sending up a great cloud of dirt, blinding the duo before he howled in pain, something had just grabbed him by his hair and _yanked_ him out of the ground like an onion! As his eyes cleared he saw a massive screen of insects between the jonin and himself before he was pulled deeper into the woods.

"What the…Naruto! What are you playing at Dobe?"

"Shut up for a minute Teme…I'm here to help you."

"I don't nee-"

"Do you know where to find your target? Then _shut up!_ He's still out there…"

Lowering his voice he started scanning the area himself, he was right, Kakashi was after both of them, so why not stick with the blond, at least until he could use him for cover to sneak away.

"Won't work Teme…Kakashi has no reason to come after me now."

That made the Uchiha's blood run cold, had he already completed his task! "You're already done?"

"No, I went to try and get Sakura to work with me; she sucker punched me and took my scroll when I was stunned. So fuck her, I'll help you get your stuff and next year I'll get a decent team."

That threw Sauske for a look, Sakura, of all people, attacked a teammate! "You're joking right? This is Sakura were talking about, she wou-"

"Teme…can you count the number of days she _didn't_ hit me in the academy?" At his silence Naruto simply nodded, "Didn't think so, look, Kakashi's trial is all a trick, we have to try and capture him, he's got the things we need. We'll have to work together to get him. You know the fireball jutsu, how many more times can you use it?"

Deciding to put the rivalry aside for now he relented, "Maybe two more, depending on the size."

"Alright…here's what were going to do…"

* * *

Sakura was currently making her way to the far side of the training grounds, this area set up more like a series or rocky ridges rather than the normal forests of Konoha, however, these ridges seemed almost devoid of life, it was clear to her that this area was used for earth users. Cursing herself she came upon an odd sight. There, below her in a barren spot of the training grounds was a single plant, the first on her list in fact. With a happy grin she streaked towards to the bit of foliage and just as her fingertips brushed a leaf she found herself weightless before plummeting into the now apparent pit trap.

"My my…looks like the smartest of the team fell for the simplest of traps…"

She cursed before letting fly a pair of kunai, the jonin snatching them easily by their rings before twirling them a few times; Sakura's eyes widened a moment as she spotted what was in his other hand, an orange book. "So he was right…"

"Yes…so he was…a pity that you didn't listen to your teammate, you may have been able to pass if you had just opted to work together, but oh well…makes my job much easier if I don't have to babysit a kid that would _attack someone that just wanted to help_."

She winced at that before steeling herself, this test wasn't over yet, she still had her scrolls, she still had a chance to get out and to link up with the others...

Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt a hand slip into her hip pouch and before she could react the jonin had leapt away. "Well…that's two down…maybe they'll let me take Sauske as an apprentice…it would certainly be better than dealing with some little fan girl and a boy with too much trust in his heart…" That was a low blow, even he would admit that, her crestfallen look as well as the tears brimed in her eyes did strike a chord, but you didn't live through the last war without having to steel yourself against such things.

"Now, would you like a hand out? Or wait for someone else to come along?"

"It won't be a long wait!"

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Kakashi's head whipped around just in time to see the ball closing in before he dove into the hole beside Sakura, the fireball engulfing the area above them and sucking all the air out of the pit, making the two collapse as the air superheated. As it passed he looked up once more to see a dark sky that now came back in on him.

"My turn! Suzumebachi no kajō-gaki no bakuhatsu!" The swarm then shot downwards to Kakshi, the man still woozy from his now recovered breath and winced as the insects began to bombard him, the stingers biting deep before each of the bugs exploded, the force driving him down and forcing him into the earth with each small blast. "NOW! Suzumebachisaikuron!" The battered jonin felt himself suddenly shot into the air as the remaining wasps burrowed under the soft earth then suddenly exploded into the small whirlwinds that Naruto had been trying to use on him earlier, the combined force of dozens of the things propelling him into the air.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!

Just as the massive fireball was about to impact he suddenly felt himself being drawn away, thrown for a moment Kakashi saw that what should have cooked him was now roasting a blond hair teen.

"Naruto!"

"No!"

"What?"

The pair whipped around to see the teen standing there without so much as a scratch on him, scowling at the now soot covered Sakura as she slowly pulled herself from the hole. "I swapped him with a clone…if we killed him it would be…troublesome…"

"But…how?"

"Simple Kakashi. You underestimated us. Now give Sauske his stuff so we can get out of here, I have training to do."

Taking a moment to gather his wits he smiled at the two teens before looking to Sakura, "You know, you could learn a lot from them…" She lowered her head in shame, refusing to look at Naruto, "And you will. You all passed."

That caught them all of guard, "WHAT!"

Kakshi winced as he brushed off the debris from his clothing, "Yes, you all passed. Naruto figured out that this was indeed a test of teamwork, as opposed to individual trials. He then approached Sakura, only to have her turn on him, something we will be getting out of her system, believe me, then went to Sauske despite the fact that he knew he couldn't pass and simply wanted to help a comrade to succeed."

"I owed you. I pay my debts, and actually I didn't figure out your test, I just knew I couldn't do it alone."

Kakashi nodded before pulling out his book once more, "Yes, be that as it may, you were still man enough to admit you needed help and went to the first that you thought likely to listen. Even I was shocked when, of all people, it was 'the loner' that ended up agreeing to help you."

"But you said that we had to get it alone! That if the others took our objects that we would fail!"

"Yes, I did, but it was up to you to decide if they _would_, we are all ninja of the Leaf Sakura. Do you know what sets us apart from the other nations?"

"Quality?"

"Clans?"

"Jutsu?"

He let out an annoyed sigh before his voice became like steel, "_TEAMWORK!"_

The three teens looked at one another in confusion. "Don't all the nations work like that? What makes Konoha so different then?"

"Naruto, the other nations do work together, yes, however, they think little of sacrificing teammates so long as the mission get's accomplished. That's not how the Leaf works. For us, if our comrades come back then we can try again later, or make up our mistakes, but if you come back alone…than your just that…alone. Yes, those that abandon the mission are trash, but to me, those that abandon their friends are worse than trash."

Seeing his rather far off look the trio all lowered their heads slightly, thinking of their own instances that they may have helped or hindered others. Sakura attacking Naruto, Sauske sending Sakura off, Naruto not giving a damn about Sakura after her attack. They all felt bad, but at the same time Naruto felt slightly justified, part of him wondering what it would make the person who was abandoned, if Sakura was trash for ditching and attacking him, what did that make him…

"I want you to think tonight about what it is that ideal means to you…report to training ground seven at nine AM for our first mission. Dismissed."

Moving off from the group Naruto let a small smile form on his lips, he had a pair of scrolls at home with his name on them, and it was finally time to see what they held.

* * *

Another AN - I agree that Sakura was the weak link here, and as a plot point is more of a plot hole in the test (heh) but honestly, I dont see Kakashi failing Sasuke (Insert standard 'I owe it to Obito bit) or Naruto (Fourth's son) So I can see him trying to work with her here, and honestly, given a similar situation (Being forced to work with someone you dont like, and not having any proof asside from the fact that he knows where to find what he needs) I may think the same.

Add to that how often she will hit Naruto and it didnt seem that off, but I will make sure to explain things a bit in the next chapter.

* * *

Suzumebachi no kajō-gaki no bakuhatsu- Wasp bullet explosion

Suzumebachisaikuron – Wasp Cyclone

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu - Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique


End file.
